A Potted Black Rose
by nobodez
Summary: Challenge Fic. Narcissa Malfoy discovers that the Boy Who Lived is the new Lord Black after Sirius dies in Azkaban. Harry/Multi large harem , Gray!Harry, Manipulative!Dumbledore, Grey!Narcissa. NOT Harry/Narcissa.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own the characters, locations, nor situations described herein, those remain the sole property of J.K. Rowling.

**Author's Note:** This is a challenge-fic, the first I've even written. It's based off of a challenge by **Arashi Hanshu** here on , from his story "Heir to the Most Ancient and Noble House of". The full text of the challenge, such as it is, will be posted at the end of this chapter (so as to not unduly impact the dramatic nature). This is slightly AU, most of the details of which will established in this chapter, though two of the major elements won't be revealed until later.

Chapter 1

-=aPBR=-

Narcissa Malfoy (née Black) slipped into her seat at the breakfast table opposite her husband of seven years, Lucius Malfoy, though said nothing as he was absorbed in the _Daily Prophet_. As her breakfast, a light interpretation of the traditional English Breakfast, arrived via house elf, she thought back on her life with a sigh.

Seven years of a loveless (and both senses) marriage to an ironically narcissistic man. Five years of pretending in public that her husband's bastard was her own son. Two years of that bastard calling her what she truly was.

"Hello Trophy," came the morning greeting of the aforementioned bastard.

"Hello Draco," replied Narcissa with a forced smile.

"Remember Draco, you may only call her that inside the manor," reminded Lucius, still hidden behind the paper.

"Will I get to be the next Lord Black?" asked Draco somewhat spontaneously.

"What?" asked Narcissa, taken aback by the five year old bastard's question.

"Oh, yes, you haven't seen to _Prophet_," noted Lucius. He folded down the top of the paper and gave his wife a leer. "It seems that your dear cousin Sirius finally got himself killed in Azkaban."

Narcissa was shocked.

"I want to be Lord Black!" commanded Draco.

Narcissa blinked a few times, then when the full ramifications hit her, a predatory smile slowly spread across her face, "Did the _Prophet_ say when the will reading was going to be?"

"They'll be having it next week at Gringotts," said Lucius, gesturing to an open envelope addressed to Narcissa next to him. Even from across the large table she could tell that it was from the Goblin-run bank. Rather than be upset that her husband had read her mail, Narcissa hid behind her smile.

"Thank you Dear," she said. "I'll be sure to make the time to attend it."

"I want to be Lord Black!" exclaimed Draco.

~I'm sure you do, you little bastard,~ thought Narcissa while taking a sip of her tea. Because her parents had both died before the end of the War, as had her uncle Arcturus, the former Lord Black, and Narcissa had never been on the best of terms with her cousin, Sirius, who until he had gotten himself killed in Azkaban had been Lord Black, even after Draco had been born, to Lucius' fourteen year old sister Delphine, Narcissa had been unable to remove herself from the loveless marriage she had found herself in. That the marriage hadn't been consummated, even after seven years, was the only hope Narcissa had that she'd be able to get out of it.

"Just make sure that you are ready for our guests after the reading," said Lucius. "The Crabbes and Goyles are coming over, so you'll have to entertain their wives for the night."

-=aPBR=-

A week later, Narcissa gracefully exited from the floo at the Leaky Cauldron, nodded politely to Tom the Publican, and made her way down the Alley to Gringotts. In the last week Narcissa had been trying to figure out who the next Lord Black could be. Because of the War, there weren't any more Blacks left in the direct line of secession, and as much as Draco wanted it, since he wasn't **her** son, he couldn't inherit the title of Lord Black (at least, not unless a third of the wizards in Britain were dead, since that was how many had a more substantial claim on the Black line than the son of two Malfoys.

Unfortunately for Narcissa, most of the males descended from her Great-Great-Grandfather Phineas Nigellus Black were in decidedly light-side families, and so would be unlikely to allow her to annul her marriage to Lucius. The Weasleys, led by Lucius' pet whipping boy inside the Ministry Arthur, held a claim, as did the Longbottoms, though considering that Frank, as well as his wife, were in comas because of Narcissa's sister, Madam Longbottom as Regent would likely not be favorable to Narcissa either. While the Crouchs were not quite as light as the Weasleys or Longbottoms, Barty was unlikely to annul the marriage either because of how his son had fallen in with the Death Eaters, and how Lucius had used his money (most of it from Narcissa's dowry) to successfully plead the now infamous "Imperius Defense".

Still, there was always hope. Perhaps Sirius had not been the traitor everyone thought and his Godson, Harry Potter was the new Lord Black, since Sirius had loved his Godson like his own son, and the Boy-Who-Lived was related through her Great-Aunt Dorea. Though, the fact that Albus-Bloody-Dumbledore had somehow hidden away the Boy-Who-Lived after the end of the War would make locating the new Lord Black (who in that case would also be Lord Potter, and one of the richest five year olds in Britain) next to impossible. But not impossible, and that was a hope that Narcissa held, for without hope, life isn't worth living.

As she carefully ascended the steps outside of Gringotts, Narcissa schooled her face into the aristocratic sneer that she'd been taught by her parents to use with the lowly beasts that ran the place.

"Lady Malfoy," sneered one of the Goblins waiting by the entrance.

"Master Goblin," said Narcissa in a terse greeting, a nod of her head the closest to a bow any self-respecting wizard would give a goblin.

"The Black will reading is in Room Z, at the end of the hall," said the Goblin, a predatory look spread across his wide face.

"Of course it is," said Narcissa. She then nodded again to the goblin, "Thank you Master Goblin." She then swept past the still unnamed goblin and down the long hall towards the various meeting and conference rooms that the bank used for its financial and legal transactions. What most wizards and witches didn't know, and Narcissa placed that blame squarely on the shoulders of Professor Binns, was that the so-called Goblin Rebellions weren't anything of the sort, and the only winners had been the diminutive beasts. There was a reason that wizards had 'entrusted' their entire financial system to the goblins, and it wasn't because the wizards had won the wars.

When Narcissa had arrived at the end of the hall, she found two doors on opposite sides, Room Y and Room Z. She turned and entered Room Z, and was surprised to find a familiar face sitting at the long table within.

"Andromeda," said Narcissa cautiously.

"Narcissa," replied her older sister.

"You look well," said Narcissa, crossing the room to sit opposite her sister.

"As do you. Lucy treating you well?"

Narcissa chuckled, "As well as any guest in his house. And you, how is, Ted was it?"

"Yes, Ted treats me well. Our daughter, Nymphadora, started her first year at Hogwarts this year, a Hufflepuff."

"That was Ted's house, was it not?"

Andromeda nodded, "Yes, I suppose that Aunt Walburga was right in burning me off the family tree, since my Nymphadora is, like our late cousin, not within the traditional house of the Blacks at Hogwarts."

"I assume that you're hoping that our late cousin didn't enforce Walburga's decision to cast you out?"

"Luckily Lord Arcturus was more accepting, and so while Walburga had burned me off the tree at Grimmould, I am still a Black," said Andromeda. "And no matter what the _Prophet_ says, I doubt Sirius betrayed the Potters to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and so I seriously doubt, no pun intended, that our late cousin, in the two years he served as Lord Black before his incarceration, completed what his mother started."

Just then the door at the far end of the room opened, and in stepped an impeccably dressed goblin, who stepped up to the end of the table, obviously onto some sort of platform for he was at eye level with the two Black sisters. "We will now read the Last Will and Testament of Lord Sirius Orion Black."

"I, Sirius Orion Black," read the Goblin, "Being of sound mind and body, do hereby bequeath all of my worldly possessions, titles, and assets to Lord James Charlus Potter, or if the worst has happened and Lord Potter is deceased, his son, Harry James Potter. I also hereby absolve the marriages of my cousins, Andromeda Lucretia Black, Bellatrix Belvina Black, and Narcissa Cassiopeia Black, provided that such marriages were not consummated, in which case I bequeath the sum of one thousand galleons to Nymphadora Elizabeth Tonks."

The goblin then looked up from the parchment, nodded, rolled it up, and tucked it into a pocket of his waistcoat, "If there wasn't anything else? I have things I must be doing. Mrs. Tonks, since you marriage was consummated, it was not annulled, and as such, your daughter's inheritance has been deposited into her vault."

Narcissa sat, aghast. With but a few dozen words her late cousin just changed the political landscape of Wizarding Britain.

"Master Gobin," broached Andromeda.

The goblin stopped and turned, "Yes?"

"Do you know how we can get in touch with the new Lord Black?"

"Yes," replied the goblin.

Narcissa shook her head, "What my sister meant to ask, was would you facilitate a meeting between the two of us and Lord Black?"

The Goblin grinned, his lips curling up to reveal a wide mouth full of gleaming, sharp, teeth, "Ever resourceful, Madam Black. I can facilitate such a meeting between the pair of you and the young Lord Black, or rather, I can give you the location where Lord Black is staying with relatives, muggles if it can be believed."

Narcissa bowed, not just her head, but her upper body as well, as befitting dealing with such a highly placed goblin, "Thank you, Master Goblin."

"It was a pleasure doing business with you, Madam Black, Mrs. Tonks. I'll take my fee for the information out of the gold that is being transferred out of the Malfoy Vault following the annulment of your marriage," replied the goblin, before finally leaving the room.

"Come Cissy," said Andromeda, standing, "If we wait too long they'll start charging us for the room."

"Now there's the sister I remember," said Narcissa, standing as well. "Shall we have tea?"

Andromeda bowed her head, "Of course."

-=aPBR=-

**The Challenge:** "Lily Potter is the sister of Druella Rosier and have Harry be raised by Narcissa, Andromeda, and Bellatrix." Obviously I also stole the bastard status of Draco from "Heir…", though that's about all I'm stealing, since while Hermione will be a part of the story, it won't be until later, and not as Harry's twin. I also won't be using more than just the Potter, Black, and Rosier families.


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own the characters, locations, nor situations described herein, those remain the sole property of J.K. Rowling.

**Author's Note:** Some have been wondering about why I want to make Lily a pureblood rather than a muggleborn. It's because of the Challenge, which had Lily be a sister to Druella.

Chapter 2

-=aPBR=-

"Now, we can't be too long, I have to return to the manor to entertain Crabbe and Goyle's wives," said Narcissa as she sat down at the table in Chang's Tea Room on one of the side alleys off of Diagon, Sochi Alley.

"Cissy," said Andromeda, pushing a stray lock of her auburn hair behind her ear, "You're not married to that sorry excuse for a man anymore, you don't have to go back there and entertain the wives while the so-called men have their way with their toys."

"Normally, I'd agree with you, but this was so sudden that I've not had time to pack. I'll just make sure that I'm out of the manor by the time the morning post arrives, and Lucy gets the letters from Gringotts and the Ministry informing him of our change in status," said Narcissa. As she saw her sister tuck yet another lock of hair behind her ear, she sighed, "Andi, why don't you just put it up in a plait or a bun?" She then gestured to her own hair, which was pulled back into a french braid, showing off quite stunningly the black and white coloration, the top of her head her natural raven color, one of the signatures of the House of her birth, while below her temples her hair had been bleached, to better match the platinum tresses of her ex-husband and "son".

Andromeda shrugged, "I just like it loose, and Ted just loves playing with it." Andi gave out a giggle that wasn't exactly proper considering both her age, as she was two years older than her sister's thirty, and as a pureblood witch of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, giggling was not something that one did in public (nor was it even encouraged in private).

Narcissa rolled her eyes, and would have said something, but one of the waitstaff arrived and it was another minute before the two sisters had their privacy back.

"So what do we know?" asked Narcissa.

Andromeda pulled the slip of parchment one of the goblins had handed her on their way out of Gringotts out of her purse, which she worse under her robes, and handed it to her sister, "Number Four Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. It's just south of Heathrow if I recall correctly."

"Heathrow? I'm not familiar with the name," admitted Narcissa, looking over the slip of parchment. "Do you know anything about these Dursley people?"

Andromeda shook her head, though whether out of shame that her sister wasn't aware of an airport that was older than either of them, or that she didn't know about the Dursleys, she neither knew nor cared. "Heathrow's an airport, where muggle airplanes come and go. It's about fourteen miles west of the Leaky Cauldron. But that's not important, as we can get there fairly easily. What is important is who the Dursleys are, and why they have custody of Harry Potter."

"They're muggles, so it is likely that Dumbledore was involved in placing him there," noted Narcissa, knowing the Chief Warlock well enough to know that he had an inordinate fondness for muggles that was quite dangerous to Wizarding Britain.

"Then they're likely squibs or relatives of a witch or wizard, or else Dumbledore would have violated the Statute in leaving him there," observed Andromeda, her work as a barrister, both in the muggle world and the magical one, gave her intimate familiarity with the limits on the Statute of Secrecy. "Uninformed muggles aren't allowed to adopt or take custody of magical children, even if he's the Chief Warlock."

"So, we need to look them up, figure out how they relate to the magical world, and then exploit that to get us what we want," summed up Narcissa, taking a sip of her tea.

"Spoken like a true Slytherin," acknowledge Andromeda with a smirk.

"I do try," said Narcissa, returning the smirk.

-=aPBR=-

Two days later the two sisters met, once again, at Chang's Tea Room. Andromeda was wearing a well made robe from Madam Malkins in a dark red, while her sister was wearing a bespoke silk robe from an Italian designer.

"I love what you've done with your hair," said Andromeda as the sisters took their seats.

Narcissa ran her fingers through her hair, which was once again its proper black, no longer bleached to fit in wither her now ex-handband, "Thank you, I had Dobby do it for me last night."

"Dobby? Isn't that one of Lucius' elves?" asked Andromeda.

"He's mine now. I was able to delay Lucius getting the letters until this morning, and I convinced him to give me Dobby as a 'present', a personal elf for his 'trophy wife'," said Narcissa with a smirk. "Had the little overachiever move all of my things out of my rooms and into my new flat overnight, and then I left little Lucy a present this morning before I left."

Andromeda looked surprised, "A present?"

"Nothing like that Andi, just a couple of rings he gave me that I didn't need anymore," said Narcissa, showing her left hand, which was adorned with a faint band of lighter skin at the base of the ring finger.

"I'm surprised you didn't sell them off for the Galleons," said Andi, knowing that even as a barrister she'd have kept the money from selling the ring that Lucius had given his trophy wife.

"Since the marriage was annulled, it never happened, and thus, the rings were never mine. As a barrister, even a muggle one, I'd think you'd realize that."

"Touché," said Andromeda with a nod.

"What does a touch have to do with anything?" asked Narcissa, not understanding the muggle reference.

Andromeda shook her head, "Nevermind, muggle reference. I've got something better." She then reached down, opened her briefcase, and extracted a few sheets of paper, "This is all I found out about the Dursleys."

"What's their connection?" asked Narcissa. While two days ago she'd been wanting to find Harry Potter because he was Lord Black, even if a half-blood, after thinking about it, and realizing that he was being raised in the muggle world, Narcissa now wanted to raise him as her son, to make sure that he understood how important he was to the Wizarding World, and what it meant to have family.

"Petunia Dursley née Evans, sister of Lily Potter née Evans, homemaker and wife to Vernon Dursley, Vice President of Sales for Grunning Drills of Surrey," explained Andromeda.

"Three questions about that. First, what's a 'homemaker'? Second, what's a 'Vice President'? Third, what's a 'Grunnings Drills'?" asked Narcissa.

Andromeda shook her head, amazed at the cultural differences between the muggle world and the wizarding one, and then remembered that a decade before she was much like her sister, "A homemaker is a woman who, instead of working, stays at home and makes sure that it is kept up. Usually it's a statement that the family is well off enough to only need one person to work, but not well off enough to afford a servant to clean."

"Ah, those little muggle differences then?" asked Narcissa.

Andromeda nodded, "As for Vice President of Sales for Grunnings Drills, that just means that Mr. Dursley is part of the upper management for a large company that manufactures and sells devices for making holes in various materials, as well as possibly other tools for construction or manufacture." Before Narcissa could ask more, Andromeda waved her down, "What it means is that, like with Petunia being a homemaker, they're relatively well off, but not truly rich. They could easily afford to support both their own son and Lord Black."

"Not that we're going to let them," said Narcissa.

"No indeed," said Andromeda, pulling the bottom sheet of paper to the top of the pile. "For I have quite the little explosive bit of information."

"Hmm?" asked Narcissa.

"It seems that Grandmother Rosa had _three_ daughters, not just Mother as she always claimed."

"Three?" asked Narcissa, wondering how this was relevant.

"Rosa Rosier née Lafleur had three daughters, all born at St. Mungos. The eldest was born in Nineteen Thirty-Five, then our mother in Nineteen Thirty-Eight, and finally a third daughter in Nineteen Sixty."

"Nineteen Sixty, but Grandmother Rosa died at the end of January," exclaimed Narcissa.

"And now we know why," said Andromeda. "It seems that our eldest aunt was cast out of the family when she failed to receive an acceptance letter."

"A squib?" asked Narcissa.

"Yes, one Olivia Rosier, or to use her married name, Olivia Evans," said Andromeda triumphantly.

"Evans, like Petunia and Lily?" asked Narcissa.

"Petunia's mother actually," said Andromeda.

"But just Petunia's? What about Lily?"

"That's where things get interesting. You remember that Mother and Father came down with Dragon Pox during the Christmas of Nineteen Fifty-Nine, right? And we couldn't go to Grandmother Rosa's funeral because they were both still sick?"

Narcissa nodded.

"Well, it seems that because of their Dragon Pox, Mother and Father were unable to reply to the letter St. Mungos sent them after Gandmother Rosa died, thinking it was just another letter about her death. Instead, it was about her youngest daughter, born just an hour before Grandmother died, just enough time to name her Lillian."

"Wait… Lillian?" asked Narcissa, the pieces slowly coming together in her mind. "And with Mother and Father both unable to answer the missive because of their Dragon Pox, and the three of us staying with Aunt Walburga, there was only one family member left to send little Lillian to."

"Exactly," said Andromeda triumphantly. "It seems that the most famous muggleborn witch of the century wasn't a muggleborn after all, instead she was as pureblooded as you or I."

"Lily Potter was a pureblood?" asked Narcissa, astonished.

"Not only that, but Lily Potter was our Aunt," proclaimed Andromeda.

"Which makes the young Lord Black our cousin," continued Narcissa.

"Exactly. And that's the angle we're going to be using to get access to Harry, the familial one. Even if they are muggles, we're family. And who would deny their family?" asked Andromeda.

-=aPBR=-


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own the characters, locations, nor situations described herein, those remain the sole property of J.K. Rowling.

**Author's Note:** Sorry about the delay, I was having internet problems, and combined with the holiday weekend, well, at least I was able to plot out the next few chapters.

Chapter 3

-=aPBR=-

As the doorbell rang, Petunia Dursley looked up from the _Times_ she was reading with her tea.

"Shall I get the door?" asked The Freak, who was at the kitchen counter cutting carrots for the night's dinner.

Petunia got up, carefully folding the paper and then smoothing her skirt. "No," she snarled, "It could be decent people, and we wouldn't want to inflict you upon decent people, now would we?"

"I'm sorry Aunt Petunia," apologized The Freak quickly.

"Stay here," said Petunia, before leaving the kitchen, making sure to close the door behind her, and made her way down the front hall to the entry way, making sure to close the cupboard under the stairs on her way. She then looked in the mirror by the front door, making sure her blond hair was still up from when she did it this morning. It was, and she smiled, before turning and opening the door.

Standing on her front porch, where not five years before her Vernon had discovered The Freak in a blanket, were two women, both tall and beautiful. The one of the right had her black hair pulled back into a french braid, and wore a designer dress, although a designer dress from nearly a decade ago. The one on the left wore a suit jacket over a more recent but slightly less expensive dress, and along with the leather briefcase she held, exuded an aura of authority. Her auburn hair was pulled back from her face, but otherwise fell down her back.

"Are you Mrs. Petunia Dursley?" asked the professional looking woman on the left.

"And you are?" asked Petunia.

The woman removed a business card from a pocket of her jacket, "Andy Tonks, junior partner for Dewey, Cheetum and Howe." Before Petunia could read the business card, she continued, "This is my client, Miss Narcissa Black. Her cousin, Lord Black, recently died and I'm handling some of the loose ends from his will, specifically, locating his heir. Our records state that he resides here, at Number Four Privet Drive. may we come in?"

Suddenly Petunia was thinking more about the potential for her husband or son to be a potential heir of a peer than about the strange name of the lawyer's firm, "Please, please, do come it. I know it's a little late for it, but would you like some tea?"

Andromeda and Narcissa nodded, and entered the rather overwrought home of the Dursleys. As they were ushered into the living room, Petunia rushed ahead, removing clear plastic covers from the furniture, "I like to keep the furniture clean in case of guests, wouldn't want to sit in a pile of dust, now would we?"

"Of course not," said Andromeda.

Narcissa, on the other hand, was slowly walking around the living room, examining the photos on the walls. Andromeda had warned her that muggle photographs didn't move, but still, it was unexpected, though she did like how the muggle images were in color, rather than the various blacks and grays of wizarding photographs. Narcissa did notice a theme, in that all of the images were of Petunia, her husband, and by the shock of blond hair on the rotund child, their son. In not a single one of the dozens of images on the walls were the famous black hair or green eyes of Harry Potter.

"Ah, I see you noticed our family photos," said Petunia. "So, was it my husband Vernon or my wonderful Dudley that you said was the heir?"

"I never mentioned a name," said Andromeda, "But neither of those names are who we are looking for."

"Neither?" asked Petunia. She then halted, as her mind finally caught up with the reality of the situation, and suddenly her demeanor changed from graciousness to outrage. "You're one of _them_ aren't you?"

"Them?" asked Narcissa, turning from the pictures to look at her cousin.

Petunia's face took on a look of disgust, "One of those, _wizards._"

"I can honestly state that I am not, nor ever have been, a wizard," replied Narcissa. "And quite frankly, I'm insulted by the accusation."

Petunia paled, "I'm sorry, I thought…"

"The trouble, Petunia… May I call you Petunia?" asked Narcissa. She continued before a reply could be given, "The trouble, is that you _didn't_ think. I've examined every single one of these pictures, and my cousin, Lord Black's primary beneficiary, is not in a single one of them, yet I know that he lives here. You were so enraptured with the thought of elevating you and your precious family out of the middle class that you failed to remember that four people live in this house."

Petunia was aghast, and horrified that these women knew the Dursley's deepest, darkest secret.

"Where is he?" asked Andromeda, still standing, holding her briefcase in her left hand, her right hand holding her wrist, where she kept her wand in a quick-draw holster, a holdover from the War.

"Who?" asked Petunia, not wanting to admit anything _unnatural_ lived in her house.

"Harry Potter," declared Narcissa.

"He's not here," hissed Petunia.

Just then a crash was heard from the kitchen, and a faint crying followed in the silence between the three women.

"Not here?" asked Andromeda, as Narcissa hustled over to investigate the crash from the kitchen.

"You are no longer welcome here," declared Petunia.

"But we're family," said Andromeda

"Family?" asked Petunia, "My only family died four years ago the day before that… that… Freak, was dropped off at our door in the middle of the night."

"Middle of the night?" asked Andromeda, she looked over at the entrance to the kitchen as she heard some muffled exclamations from her younger sister. She then looked back to Petunia, "If you weren't my cousin, and I wasn't the good sister, we'd be having a much different conversation right now."

"Cousin?" asked Petunia, surprised, "But I thought you were related to the man my sister married."

"We are, and she wasn't your sister, but that's beside the point," said Andromeda, who looked over just as Narcissa came out of the Kitchen, her transfigured dress stained with still moist blood.

Narcissa was holding a young boy, with the trademark unruly Potter hair. Andromeda wondered who he was at first, since he looked perhaps three or four years old, not the nearly five that Harry Potter should be, "I've managed to stop the bleeding Andi, but I've always been bad at healing burn wounds."

"What happened?" asked Andromeda, stepping over to her sister. With a flick of her hand her wand was out and pointed at Petunia, "What was he doing in there?"

"He was making dinner," explained Petunia, falling back into the chair with a sigh. "I left him cutting carrots when you arrived."

"You left a not even five year old boy unattended with a knife?" asked Andromeda.

"Not just a knife, but a frying pan too, full of hot oil," explained Narcissa. She then looked from her sister to her cousin, "We're going to be taking him to Saint Mungos. If you're lucky, we won't come back here and you'll never have to see any of us every again."

"You'll not be taking young Mr. Potter anywhere," declared Albus Dumbledore, striding through the front door, confidently wearing a fifty year old purple suit, one of his few sets of muggle clothing.

-=aPBR=-

"Albus," said Andromeda, lowering her wand slightly, so as not to seem to threaten the Chief Warlock. "I honestly can say I wasn't expecting you."

"And neither was I the two of you, Mrs. Tonks," said Albus, nodding to Andromeda, then he looked to Narcissa and nodded as well, "Mrs. Malfoy."

"It's Ms. Black now, actually," said Naricssa. "And I don't believe that you have any part in this, Chief Warlock. This is a family matter."

Albus raised his bushy white eyebrows, "A family affair? I'm not sure how that can be. While I know that Mr. Potter is related to the Black family through his grandmother, how is Mrs. Dursley related to either of you? The Tonkses perhaps?"

Andromeda shook her head, "Not that I'm aware of, and Ted probably wouldn't want to admit it anyway, what with the way this woman as treated her cousin."

"Cousin?" asked Albus.

"I was wondering the same thing," pointed out Petunia.

"Petunia, before the Chief Warlock makes a fool of himself, tell me, what was your mother's name?"

"Olivia, Olivia Evans," said Petunia.

"Before she was married to your father," clarified Narcissa, as Harry let out a whimper, "And quickly now, I don't know how long it'll be before these burns will scar."

Petunia looked to Albus, then back to the two witches, "Rosier."

Albus gasped, "Oliva Rosier?"

Petunia nodded, then asked, "Why does that matter? It's not like she was a witch or anything."

"She was a squib, what we call those born to witches and wizards without any magic. She was cast out of the family when she failed to receive her Hogwarts Acceptance Letter," explained Andromeda.

"I had always wondered why she was so excited about Lily getting her letter," said Petunia with a snarl. "Guess it was a way to live through her daughter, so once again, precious Lily is stealing something from me, even from beyond the grave."

"Again, she wasn't your sister, she was your aunt, ours too if that makes any difference," said Andromeda, gesturing to Narcissa. "That makes you and Harry here both our cousins. And since Harry is now Lord Black via our other cousin's will, no relation to you Petunia, he deserves to live with us, in the magical world, where he'll be loved and cared for, and more importantly, not abused."

"You'll take him?" asked Petunia, hopefully.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Tonks, but Mr. Potter won't be leaving this house, at least not with either of you. Here he's safe and protected," countered Albus.

"Safe?" screeched Narcissa. "Protected? While Mrs. Muggle was out here talking to us, she left Harry in the kitchen unsupervised. He slipped and fell, practically impaling himself on a butcher's knife and then coating himself in boiling oil. If that's safe and protected, I don't want to know what you think him being in danger would be."

"That may be, but he's protected here by his mother's sacrifice," explained Albus, "Though the blood of her sister."

"Aunt," corrected Andromeda. "Lily was Petunia's Aunt, as she was to Cissy and myself."

"It does not matter," declared Albus. "For the Greater Good, Mr. Potter must be raised here, in the muggle world, where he will be safe from the fame and celebrity that already inundates our society."

"The Greater Good?" asked Narcissa, who, despite Professor Binns' best efforts, was a student of history.

"And on what authority did you place him here? If what Petunia says is correct, you had him here not a day after his parents died. What about Sirius?"

"That traitor?" asked Albus.

"You didn't know he was a traitor," countered Andromeda, "And even today I suspect that he wasn't a traitor either. After Sirius' death I've been going over the House's paperwork, in addition to researching dear Cousin Petunia. House Black and House Potter were allied, Sirius bequeathed James his title in his will, which is how Harry received it. He couldn't have betrayed the Potters to He-Who-Must-Not…"

"Voldemort," interrupted Albus. "Call him Voldemort. He's been gone over three and a half years, there's nothing let to fear."

"Voldemort then," continued Andromeda. "Like I was saying, the alliance between the Blacks and Potters was magically binding, meaning he couldn't have gone to Voldemort and given him their location. So, aside from that fact, on the First of November, Nineteen Hundred Ninety-One, instead of giving custody of Harry to his godfather, or even his godmother, Alice Longbottom, you instead secreted him away in the muggle world with a woman who hates magic and has less of a connection to his mother's so-called protections, which I'd like to know what are, than you'd expected. Why?"

"For the Greater Good," parroted Albus, reaching into his pocket and extracted a knobby black wand. "Now, as I said, I need you to leave Mr. Potter here. I'll take care of his wounds and impress on his Aunt…"

"Cousin," corrected Andromeda.

"Cousin, Petunia, that he's to be treated no worse, or better, than she treats her own child."

"I think not Chief Warlock. You have no jurisdiction here, no legal way to enforce this," countered Andromeda.

"Petunia, did you want to keep Harry here?" asked Narcissa, picking up on her cousin's earlier comments.

"No," said Petunia. "i never wanted him here. He's a Freak, and I won't have a Freak living in my home."

"Now Petunia," said Albus, raising his wand, not at her, but at Andromeda, Narcissa, and most importantly, Harry.

"Petunia, do you hereby give up all custody to Harry James Potter, born the Thirty-First of July, Nineteen Hundred Eighty?" asked Andromeda.

"Petunia, don't answer that," commanded Albus, his black wand pointed now at Petunia.

"Petunia?" asked Narcissa. "Let me help him. I want to help him."

"_Bombarda!_" shouted Albus.

"Yes," said Petunia softly.

A flicker of magic passed between Petunia and Narcissa, and then Number Four Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, exploded.

-=aPBR=-


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own the characters, locations, nor situations described herein, those remain the sole property of J.K. Rowling.

Author's Note: Sorry about the delay, I had the first half of this chapter written before I posted the last, but the second half did not want to be written. Even now I'm not comfortable with it, but it got me to where I needed it to, and so, for that, it will serve its purpose, however inelegant.

Chapter 4

-=aPBR=-

Senior Auror Amelia Bones walked up the residential street in Surrey, the low heels of her muggle outfit clicking on the pavement. She'd apparated to a garden shed of a squib who lived a few streets over, a Mrs. Figg, and then walked the rest of the way. She walked with confidence, a copper just like any other.

"You can't come through here ma'am," said a constable behind a yellow plastic ribbon draped between two trees on opposite sides of Privet Drive.

Amelia sighed, reached into the pocket of her overcoat, and extracted the leather wallet within. She flipped it open and said, "DCI Amelia Bones."

"Oh, sorry," said the Constable, a Clarke if she read his name right from his uniform.

"Understandable Constable Clarke, why don't you give me the situation?" asked Amelia, putting away her badge, which she'd return to the collection of badges she kept in her trunk at the Ministry for whenever she had to interact with the muggle police.

"At shortly after four thirty this afternoon, an explosion destroyed the residence of Number Four Privet Drive," explained Constable Clarke as he lead whom he thought was Detective Chief Inspector Bones down Privet Drive. "First responders noted that although the house itself was destroyed in the explosion, none of the buildings next to it were damaged aside from a few bits of falling debris."

Consistent with a warded explosion, thought Amelia. But why would a muggle house have such strong wards? Amelia then gave a gesture for the Constable to continue.

"We found two bodies inside the rubble, preliminary findings are a," and Clarks paused to remove a notepad from one of his pockets, "Mrs. Petunia Dursley née Evans, and a young boy of approximately five years old."

Amelia paused, and Constable Clarke stopped a few steps later. "Evans?" she asked.

Clarke looked down at his notepad, "Yes, that's her maiden name. Her husband showed up about an hour after the explosion and made a positive identification on her body, or at least what was left of it, before it was taken to the morgue. Is there a problem Detective?"

Amelia shook her head, "No Constable, no problem. Just making connections to an old case."

"Old case?" asked Clarke.

"Missing person, young boy, would be just about five years old. His mother was an Evans before she married," explained Amelia. While she'd not personally worked the Harry Potter case, and it had been closed by the Chief Warlock after the incarceration of… She shook her head to clear it.

"Problem?"

"No, just, I had a connection to the case, and certain pieces from this one are hinting at a possible connection to that one," explained Amelia, telling the truth, but not all of it. "Did Mr. Dursley give us an ID on the boy?"

Clarke nodded, "Yes, seems it was his son, Dudley, though neighbors also say there was another boy who lived here, younger with black hair, but we've yet to find a body. We're thinking it might be a touch of kidnapping as well."

"Well," said Amelia, piecing things together, "Is Mr. Dursley still here?"

Clarks shook his head, "No ma'am, he left with his wife's and son's bodies about ten minutes ago."

"I'll follow up with him later," said Amelia. "Let's see the scene of the crime."

Clarke lead Amelia down past the next house before stopping in front of the remains of Number Four, "Here we are, Number Four Privet Drive." Clarke lead Amelia up the walkway to where the front door would have been, "The explosive was centered in the front room, possibly the living room or sitting room from the remains o the furniture. As you can see by the stairs, the bedrooms were on the first floor. We found the boys body in the back garden, blown there by the blast I suspect."

"So, a gas explosion?" asked Amelia, giving one of the standby explanations for magical explosions.

"Possible, the water heater was under the stairs, but that's a long distance for gas to travel before exploding," said Clarke. "We did find one odd thing in the living room, though." He lead her through the charred and broken building, and then pointed to a circle of light blue amid the black.

"Something was protected from the explosion," said Amelia.

"Yeah, but it wasn't here when fire showed up," explained Clarke. "Combined with the location of the explosion, and I'm not surprised you're here."

"Me?" asked Amelia.

"My sister attended a special boarding school up in Scotland, Madame Bones," said Constable Clarke, turning to face Amelia. "And you've got a Surrey badge in that wallet of yours, but Spelthorne's still under Scotland Yard."

"Thank you Constable," said Amelia, pulling her wand from her wrist holster. Luckily there was still enough of a front wall standing to provide cover from the street. A few spells later, and she had everything she need from the crime scene.

"So, a gas explosion?" asked Constable Clarke.

Amelia nodded, "Seems like. I'll leave it to you to spread the good work with your fellows."

"Of course Madam Bones, though it might help to have a bit of your special magic to get the point across," opined Clarke.

"Perhaps Constable," said Amelia. "But that's not my department. I'm here to investigate crimes, not commit them."

"Of course," nodded Clarke. "Shall I show you back out?"

"I'll fine my own way, Constable, but thank you," said Amelia.

-=aPBR=-

Amelia, after returning to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, finalized her report of the crime scene.

"Magical explosion, unknown number of survivors left scene before muggle law enforcement officers arrived. Illegal wards on property protected neighboring buildings, but had fallen by the time Senior Auror Bones had arrived on scene. No obliviations required at this time. Primary suspect is an unknown witch or wizard, possibly injured from the blast, also possibly with custody of primary victim. Unknown number of potential magical witnesses. Recommend St. Mungos be on the lookout for blast injuries or four-year-old wizards."

She then, not even changing from her muggle attire into her dark red auror robes, left the Department, and via the lobby of the Ministry, returned home.

The Ossuary was the ancestral home of the Bones family, and where Amelia had grown up. Like most pureblood homes, it was protected by wards that had been added to and augmented over the centuries such that not even Voldemort at the height of his power had been able to breech it before his fall three and a half years before. Not that Amelia had been living at the Ossuary during the war, instead it was the home of her father, Jacob Bones, and was set to be the home of her older brother Edgar. As Amelia walked through the halls of the Bones Ancestral Mansion, her fingers lightly touching the artifacts that gave the Ossuary its name. Here were the bones of her family, worked into the walls, supporting the ivory banister of the stairs, and providing an anchor for the wards that had protected the Ancient House of Bones for over a thousand years.

As she thought about the case, about the missing Harry Potter, she thought back to the war, and all that she'd lost.

Two brothers, and so much more.

Edgar, who was nearly a decade older than she was and had prepared as long as she remembered to take their father's seat on the Wizengamot when he finally retired. He'd been killed nearly five years ago, at a dinner party with his wife, Jessica (née Boot), and their sons, Maxwell, age eight, and Samuel, age six. The protection of the Ossuary had not helped them as the Death Eaters killed every witch, wizard, and child at the party, lead by their leader, Voldemort (she refused to call the Dark Wizard 'Lord').

Gregory, was was only a year older than Amelia, had died just two months before the end of the War, in August of '81. Like Amelia, Gregory, who had already begun to prepare to take their late brother's place as Heir, was an Auror, and was watching Diagon Alley during the August Back-To-School rush. He'd been killed shielding a muggleborn from a Killing Curse (though the muggleborn had then be killed with a bone-breaking curse to the head seconds after Gregory's sacrifice). He'd been survived by his wife, Megan (née Smith), and their nearly two-year old daughter Susan. Megan had lasted another year before she took her own life, leaving Susan and Amelia as the last of the Bones.

Amelia's father had died just a year ago, leaving Amelia to take care of the Ossuary and the Bones seat on the Wizengamot. Although the last child of the last Lord Bones, since the previous Heir of the Ancient House of Bones had a child (in fact, both of her brothers had had children) that child, her niece, would have to die for her to be Lady Bones.

She thought back on the man she'd been so in love with, and shook her head, wondering how much of a fool she'd been.

Snapping herself out of her melancholy reflection, Amelia strode up the stairs to the first floor, and to the one person in her life that would neither leave her, betray her, nor disappoint her. It was well after dark, the explosion in Surrey happening in the evening, and her write-up and debriefing having taken the next few hours. She hated coming in late, hated not being there for her niece, not being there to watch her grow up, leaving her in the care of the capable by overzealous elves. If she wasn't so good at her job, and if she wasn't trying to make up for her mistake, she'd have left the Aurors to spend the rest of Susan's childhood at the Ossuary.

Instead, after opening the door just enough to see that the five year old ginger center of her existence was sound asleep, Amelia retreated to her study for her customary reflection on how her life had gone wrong.

After accepting the tumble of whisky from her elf, and bidding the eager being a good night, Amelia collapsed into her chair, and leaned over her desk.

As she'd done every night, or at least every night she'd been able to come home at the end of, she looked over the ruins of her life. The picture of her and her betrothed, or her former betrothed now that he was dead, his face burned off with one of the darker family charms of her House, sat in the center of her desk, the focal point of her nightly ritual. She then glanced over at the worn red box, so innocuously muggle, that held the engagement ring that she'd worn for two years before his betrayal. She then looked past the picture of her in a past life, a happier life, a deluded life, to the framed proof of her mis-spent youth. The betrothal contract.

Although she'd looked at it, as was her custom, every night, she'd not noticed the change that had come over it since the death of her betrothed earlier in the month, and only because she recognized a name did it finally catch her attention. She put down her tumbler, emptied in her melancholy haze, and picked up the framed contract.

Her finger traced the names at the top of the contract, "Bones" and "Black". She then traced her finger down the glass until she reached the bottom, where, for nearly five years the name of her and her betrothed at sat, mocking her for her misplaced trust. Now, though, it mocked her for an entirely different reason, and for a fleeting moment, she had hope that perhaps her trust wasn't as misplace as she'd thought since that dark November morning when she'd read the news in the _Daily Prophet_.

Instead of her name, "Amelia Candace Bones", it read "Susan Amelia Bones". And instead of "Sirius Orion Black"," it now read, "Harry James Potter-Black", though there looked to be something after 'Black' in the name of the Boy-Who-Lived, and the apparent victim of a kidnapping. She then looked down, and saw something new that hadn't been on the contract when she'd convinced her father to sign it, a "Line Continuation" clause, which allowed Susan's children, if she and Harry were to wed, to inherit either the Potter (and now the Black) line, or the Bones line (as Susan was the only surviving child of the last Heir).

Just then Amelia Bones, Senior Auror, and Regent of the Ancient House of Bones, didn't know what to say. But, she did know what to do, both about her niece's future, and about the apparent kidnapping of Harry Potter. Amelia needed to talk to Narcissa Black, who was now listed on the Contract as Regent of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black.

-=aPBR=-


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own the characters, locations, nor situations described herein, those remain the sole property of J.K. Rowling.

**Author's Note:** Sorry about the wait not his one, I actually had it written a week ago, but never got around to typing it up until today. But, I finally get to the next plot point. Now I just need to figure out how to get Bella our of prison.

Chapter 5

-=aPBR=-

Narcissa, still holding her busied, burned, and bleeding cousin, apparated side-along with her sister into her flat. A split second after recognizing where they were, gaining her bearings, she rushed across the living room to the sofa that sat against one of the walls, carefully setting down her charge upon the cushions. The sofa, like most of the items in her flat, had been "liberated" from Malfoy Manor when she moved out a few days before. Even though the furniture was what she'd had in her apartment at the Manor, the flat was still not yet "home" for Narcissa Black.

Andromeda, though, was still in shock from the events leading up to their seemingly surviving an explosion. Particularly, the cause of the explosion, his actions, and their repercussions, still not quite real to the pureblood witch. It was only when her cousin made a whimper from the sofa Narcissa had put it down on that Andromeda snapped out of her momentary fugue.

Andromeda turned, and catching sight of the fireplace, sprinted over, and with a wave of her wand, had it lit. As she grabbed a pinch of floo powder from the pot above the mantle, she was stopped by a question from her sister as she knelt down before the flames.

"Andi, what are you doing?" asked Narcissa, kneeling next to the sofa.

"I'm flooing Saint Mungo's, of course," said Andromeda, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Narcissa sighed heavily, "Andi, stop and think for a moment. We just escaped from being blown up by Albus Bloody Dumbledore, the most respected wizard in Britain. That means that, for likely the first time in your life at least, the two of us are opposed to the man that practically runs the Ministry, as well as the Wizengamot, and likely Saint Mungo's as well. You floo Saint Mungo's, and it won't matter that we just escaped his wrath, we'll be putting ourselves and Lord Black in danger."

"I…" began Andromeda, stuttering as her mind caught up with the implications. She sat down on her heels, leaning back from the fire, the floo powder still in hand. "I… I didn't think…"

"It's alright Andi," said Narcissa, comforting her sister from across the room, her focus still on the cousin she had accepted custody of just minutes before. "You may be the smartest of the three of us, but you've always lived on the side of the light. This is a paradigm shift for you."

"Then who?" asked Andromeda. "Who should we call? If Ted was here, or I were back at home, I'd call the ambulance, but you've not got a telephone."

"I'll pretend I understood what you just said," joked Narcissa. "But, I think I know someone we can floo. She's not exactly a healer, but I'd trust her with my life."

"Who?"

"Selene."

"Malfoy?" asked Andromeda, knowing of only one Selene that her younger sister had known and trusted in any way, shape, or form.

"It's Lovegood now, and much like you, she'd on the lighter side of her family tree."

"Do you know her floo address?"

"The Rookery," answered Narcissa. "And hurry, I fear that these burns might scar if we tally too long."

-=aPBR=-

Five minutes later, Selene Lovegood, née Malfoy, was finishing up her work on her young patient. She then looked up at the two expectant Black women, rising from the now fully healed and sleeping boy, "Is this who I think it is?"

"That depends," Andromeda replied cooly.

"On what?" asked Selene.

"What is you opinion on the infallibility of the Chief Warlock?" asked Narcissa.

"Dumbledore?" Selene asked, aghast. She then looked back at her patient, the still moist blood mixed with oil staining the sofa. She then looked back at the two Black sisters. Now that she could pay attention, Selene would swear on her magic that she'd never seen Narcissa wearing a muggle dress, let alone one stained with the slowly browning spots of blood the younger Black sister now wore. She'd also never seen the protective look on Andromeda, though she'd lost contact with Andromeda when she'd run off to marry her muggleborn husband, and thusly called out of the pureblood elite.

Neither woman, though, was acting rationally, though Selene had to remind herself that witches and wizards rarely acted rationally, especially when children were involved. They'd floo called her, a spell crafter, to heal their young charge, rather than either floo calling a healer, or just going to Saint Mungo's. That they were being coy about the identity of one of, if not the, most famous wizards under the age of eleven, and mentioned the lack of trust in Albus Dumbledore, made Selene realize that whatever had happened to these two women, and the young boy asleep on the sofa, it was more serious that she'd initially thought.

"Did you need an unbreakable?" asked Selene finally.

"What?" Andromeda asked, surprised at the severity of the question.

"Something happened this evening, not fifteen minutes ago, that had the two of you, estranged since Andromeda married, not only working together, but distrusting the most revered man in Britain since Merlin. Obviously Dumbledore was involved in some way, else you'd not mention him, and from the way you did so, it wasn't in a good way. From your reluctance to contact a healer or Saint Mungo's, you're worried he might have something untoward planned for the young boy you had me heal. You're worried about him finding out where you are, or more importantly, where that young boy is.

"Based on what's happened in the last couple of weeks, I'd say this little trip you took today, into an obviously muggle area, had something to do with your late cousin, Sirius Orion Black, the former Lord Black, of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. Xeno, bless his heart, has heard rumors about whom would take up the mantle of Lord Black, since Sirius neither had an heir, nor any surviving siblings, though was, before being sent to Azkaban, thought to be very close to his cousin, James Potter, and might have, had he not been revealed a traitor to his seeming friends, declared James, and thus young Harry after his father's untimely death at the hands of the late Dark Lord, named him a heir of the House of Black.

"That you've got someone who appears to be a young Harry, if the scar, hair, and eyes are anything to go on, and seemingly rescued him from the muggles, if your attire and his injuries are anything to go on, means that Dumbledore lied when he declared, and still declares, at least until last month, that Harry is safe.

"Narcissa, you're no longer married to my incestuous cousin, meaning that you can, once again, devote your time to your family, and thus, Lord Black. But, because of that, we're no longer family, at least no more than we were before you married the blond ponce, fourth cousins thrice removed I believe, which means that what we discuss is no longer held secret by the bonds of blood, at least, not to the Wizengamot, and even then, if they'd brought out Veritiserum, we'd have to talk anyway. At least, if i'm right in thinking?"

Andromeda nodded, "Hence the offer of the vow." She bit her lower lip, "If we're going to be making vows, we really should get Ted in here."

"Ted, your husband?" asked Narcissa.

"Cissy, I'm a barrister, not a solister, which is Ted's expertise, and so I'm not comfortable arranging the requisite legal loopholes required to protect us from the likes of Dumbledore."

"Well, I have an idea that might not force you to bring Ted into our little conspiracy just yet," offered Narcissa.

The other two witches were surprised.

"Unless you have a sudden interest in contract law, I'm not sure what you're talking about," asked Andromeda.

"Andi, Leni, you both know I married Lucius because of the contract between our families."

"So?" asked Selene, not making the connection.

"The married that was annulled, and thus never happened, and thus…" began Narcissa.

"Never fulfilled the contract," finished Andromeda. She then nodded, "The Betrothal clause?"

"Wait, an arranged marriage?" asked Selene. "And with whom?"

"There's really only two options, either between Nymphadora and Draco," offered Andromeda. "Which I'm not agreeing to in any way, shape, or form."

"Or, between the young Lord Black," Narcissa said, gesturing to the sleeping boy, "And one Miss Luna Lovegood."

"Luna?" asked Selene shocked.

"Not all the way to marriage, but it would protect us almost as well," offered Narcissa.

"At least until the betrothal is cancelled," confirmed Andromeda. "But hopefully by then we'll have figured out a way out of this mess."

"We'll dodge that bludger when we get there," opined Narcissa.

"It's a good thing he's only Lord Black and Lord Potter," opined Selene with a sigh.

"Why?" asked Narcissa.

Andromeda just cursed under her breath.

"Andi, what's wrong?"

"I think things are a bit more complicated that we first thought," offered Andromeda, as she leaned against the mantle.

"Why?"

"I was so excited about finding a relation between us and Harry, aside from his grandmother Dorea, that I forgot the ramifications."

"I'm not following you," said Selene.

"Andi, please, explain it to us," said Narcissa.

"Cissy, what is our relation to Harry, aside from Dorea?" asked Andromeda.

"His mother was the third daughter of Marcus and Rosa Rosier, and thus our aunt, making him our cousin," explained Narcissa, mainly to Selene, so that she could get caught up. Selene looked surprised, but stayed quiet.

"Which means that he's a Rosier, as well as a Potter, and a Black," explained Andromeda.

"So?" asked Narcissa.

Selene though, cursed as well.

"What am I missing?" asked Narcissa.

"Marcus Rosier was survived by his younger brother, Julius Rosier, a supporter of the Dark Lord," explained Selene. "Julius had one son, Evan Rosier, who was killed nearly five years ago. Julius Rosier was named Lord Rosier three years ago, when his father, your great-grandfather, died from Dragon Pox."

"So, Lord Rosier?" asked Narcissa, confused.

"Dobby!" commanded Andromeda.

A house elf wearing a black pillow case as a uniform, adorned with the crest of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, appeared with a soft pop, "Mistress Andi be calling Dobby?"

"Dobby, bring me yesterday's _Prophet_," commanded Andromeda.

"Right away Mistress Andi!" said Dobby with a nod, before popping out, likely to Andromeda's house, and then popping back a few seconds later, holding a folded newspaper.

Andromeda took the paper from Dobby, "That is all Dobby. We'll call you later to clean."

"Thank you Mistress Andi," said Dobby with a bow. He then turned to his true mistress, Narcissa, and bowed again, before popping away.

"Here, second page, third column, under the fold," said Andromeda, handing the paper to her sister.

Narcissa took it and read, and as she read, her face became more and more pale.

"Now you see," said Andromeda.

"He's dead," said Narcissa. "Which means that, having no living heirs, it falls to the eldest living male heir of his father."

"Which makes things much more complicated," said Selene with a sigh. "Though, on the bright side, we don't have to worry about activating the betrothal clause."

"No, no we don't, since Luna and Harry are already practically married," spat Narcissa.

"That's not all. Any eligible marriage contract got activated two days ago, when Harry become the heir of the Blacks, Potters, and Rosiers, earning his emancipation, and eliminating the chance of deferring the contracts until the next generation."

-=aPBR=-


	6. Chapter 6

I do not own the characters, locations, nor situations described herein, those remain the sole property of J.K. Rowling.

**Author's Note:** Sorry about the wait. I had to figure out how to get from the end of Chapter Five to be end of Chapter Six. I'm not entirely happy with the scene between, but it'll function, and gives a bit of character to the characters. I've not forgotten about the challenge requiring all three Black sisters, but right now Bella is a convicted felon, so it'll take some wrangling to get her out of Azkaban and into Harry's life.

Chapter 6

-=aPBR=-

"What do we tell Harry?" asked Narcissa, as the implications of their discussion sunk in.

"Tell him?" asked Selene.

"Well, as you surmised, our departure from his previous abode was not amicable," said Andromeda. "We were there for perhaps ten minutes, at most, before he was injured, and then within ten minutes we were here. I doubt he remembers Cissy picking him up, let alone the events that followed."

"He was abused there, both mentally and physically, but it's likely that it's the only home he remembers. That's gone now, and when he wakes up, he's going to be in an unfamiliar place, surrounded by unfamiliar people, and likely expecting to be treated badly," further explained Narcissa.

Selene sighed, "I don't envy you, either of you. And with Hogwarts letting out next week, you'll have young Nymphadora to deal with as well."

Andromeda chuckled, "That's not going to be easy, but hopefully things will have settled a bit once that time comes."

Narcissa sighed, then sagged.

"Cissy, what's wrong?" asked Andromeda.

"It just hit me, like a bludger upside the head. I'm a single mother," admitted Narcissa.

"I wouldn't quite go that far," said Selene.

"No?" asked Narcissa. "I'm not qualified to take care of a kneazle, let alone a nearly five year old boy."

"Cissy, you won't be a single mother because you'll have help," said Andromeda. "I know Ted'll love to help, and having been raised a muggle, he'll understand what Harry'll expect after having lived with Petunia. Nymphadora will be able to help during the summer as well, and I'll be able to as well on my days off."

"I'm sure, since they'll be married once Harry's seventeen anyway, he and Luna will need to be friends, so I'll be able to help out with his care as well," offered Selene. "And likely the rest of his betrotheds' families will be able to help."

"Thanks, both of you," said Narcissa. "I think we'll be fine. Of course, once he wakes, I'll have me first test as a new mother."

Selene chuckled, "Did my cousin let you do anything with his bastard?"

Narcissa shook her head, "Draco was raised by the elves until he was two, and then Lucius finally took a hand in raising him after his first accidental magic episode. I pretty much only interacted with him at meals, well, either of them."

Andromeda chuckled, "Well, it shan't be too hard, though you might want to have a calming drought handy, just in case."

"I'd recommend a calming charm," countered Selene. When both of the Black sisters looked at her inquisitively, she elaborated, "Muggle raised, remember? He'll not be used to taking potions."

-=aPBR=-

"Who are you?" asked Harry upon being woken up by his cousin's _enervate_. "Where am I? What happened to Aunt Petunia?"

Narcissa gently stroked Harry's shoulder, "It's alright. My name is Narcissa Black, I am your cousin."

"Cousin? But, you're almost as old as Aunt Petunia," said Harry.

Narcissa, true to her name, smiled at the complement, "Why thank you, but, the truth is, I'm actually older than Petunia was, though, much like you called her Aunt Petunia even though she was as much your cousin as I am, you too may call me Aunst Narcissa, or if you prefer, Aunt Cissy."

"Aunt Cissy?" asked Harry, testing the name. He then nodded, "I like that."

"As for where we are, we're at my flat, just off of Diagon Alley in London. As for what happened to Petunia," explained Narcissa. She paused, and took a deep breath, wondering how to explain that the only mother figure Harry had known, however despicable, was dead. "A bad man attacked your Aunt's house while I and my sister were there to see you. She bravely let me take you to safety before the bad man could hurt you." It wasn't the whole truth, but it was close enough for the not quite five year old boy.

"Will I have to go back to Uncle Vernon?" asked Harry, a bit afraid. Petunia had been a bit nicer to him than Vernon had.

Narcissa shook her head, though she didn't know who Vernon was, she assumed he was Petunia widower, "No, you'll not need to go back there if you don't want to. Petunia told me that I could take care of you, and with her gone, it's now my duty to fulfil my cousin's last wish." Again, it wasn't the full truth, but it was close enough to keep her young charge calm.

"Oh," said Harry. He then looked at Narcissa longingly, "Aunt Cissy?"

"Yes Harry?" asked Narcissa.

"Can," he asked haltingly, "Can I hug you? I saw Aunt Petunia do it to Dudley and Uncle Vernon, and I always wanted to get one."

Narcissa sniffed, trying not to cry as she smiled and embraced Harry.

A minute or two later, and the hug finally ended, "Thank you Aunt Cissy."

"You're very welcome," said Narcissa.

Harry thought for a moment, "If you're Aunt Petunia's cousin, did you know my mum?"

Narcissa thought for a moment, as while she knew of Lily Potter née Evans, she couldn't truthfully say she knew her, "Unfortunately not. While she was my Aunt, my mother's younger sister, she was raised by her eldest sister, Petunia's mother, who had a, falling out, with my grandparents and parents. So, while I knew of your mother, even went to the same school, we didn't realize we were family because her adoptive mother, her sister and my Aunt, had changed her name, going by her married name of Evans rather than her birth name of Rosier. So, while I didn't know your mother, I did know of her."

"What was she like?" asked Harry, not really understanding Narcissa's explanation.

"She was kind, and smart, and the brightest witch of her generation," said Naricssa.

"Witch?" asked Harry.

Naricssa paled, hoping to delay the introduction of magic for another conversation, "Well, you see, Harry, some people, like your mother, myself, and even you, are gifted with the ability to do magic. Witches are female magic users, girls and women who can do magic, while males, boys and men, are called wizards. You're a wizard, Harry."

-=aPBR=-


	7. Chapter 7

I do not own the characters, locations, nor situations described herein, those remain the sole property of J.K. Rowling.

**Author's Note:** This came much quicker than the last one, obviously. I've a Resolution this year, to write at least a scene a day. While I messed up on the first, I've made up for it with two scenes today. The second scene is inspired by a review-lead PM exchange I had with **Red Phoenix Dragon**, so that's to them for reminding me that Albus is supposed to be manipulative in this one. Also, I'm not sure which story it was from, but I liked the idea of a magical College of Arms to administer the peerage, rather than letting the fanfic favorite Gringots take care of it.

Chapter 7

-=aPBR=-

"A Wizard?" asked Harry. "But, I'm nothing special."

Narcissa chuckled, "You're more special than you know, Harry, but right now you're a little too young to understand just how special you are."

Harry looked dejected.

"Now, don't be sad, unlike Petunia, I'm not going to work you in the kitchen," said Narcissa. "You're a member of my family, and as such, you'll be treated well."

"Will I be sleeping here?" asked Harry, looking around at the couch and the living room. "It's really nice and big, and during the day I can fold up my blanket and you'll not notice me at all."

Narcissa closed and eyes and took a deep breath, wondering what exactly Petunia had done to this boy, "Harry, you'll get your own room, with a bed and wardrobe and everything. And when you're old enough, you'll get a trunk and go to Hogwarts like your mother and father."

"And like you, Aunt Narcissa?" asked Harry, wondering if this Hogwarts was the school his Aunt had mentioned.

"And like me," said Narcissa. She then looked to Harry's side, "Do you mind if I sit next to you, there's some people I want to introduce to you."

"Of course," said Harry.

Naricssa smiled and, her hand still sitting in a comforting way on Harry's shoulder, stood up slightly, turned, and sat down on her couch next to Harry. "Now, don't be alarmed, all of these women are here to help you."

"Help me?" asked Harry, "What do I need help for?"

"That's a long story, and hopefully, one day I'll be able to explain it well enough that you'll understand. Until then, just know that they are here for you, just as I will be here for you."

"Okay," said Harry shyly.

"Andi, Selene, could you come in here please," said Narcissa.

The first of the two women had long black hair, and was still wearing the slightly ruffled suit she'd worn before meeting Petunia earlier in the day, "Hello Harry."

The second of the two women wore a long, loose dress, and her white-blonde hair shown in opposition to that of the two Black sisters, "Hello Harry."

"Harry, these are Andromeda and Selene," said Narcissa, pointing first to her sister and then to her old friend. "Andromeda is my sister, while Selene is one of my oldest friends."

"Hello," said Harry meekly. He then looked to Narcissa, "Are they witches too?"

"Yes, yes they are," said Narcissa.

"Are they good witches, or bad witches?" asked Harry. He then scrunched up his face, "Are you a good witch or a bad witch?"

Narcissa looked confused, and then looked to her sister for clarification.

Andromeda smiled, "I'm a good witch Harry, all of us are good Witches. You are wise to ask, because there are bad witches and wizards out there, and they wish to do you harm."

"Why?" asked Harry.

"You're famous," said Selene.

"Me?"

"Yes, you," said Narcissa. She then traced the outline of Harry's lightning-bolt scar, "This scar is why you are famous."

"But that's from when my parents crashed," said Harry.

"Crashed?" asked Selene.

"Didn't they die in a car crash?" asked Harry.

"Is that what Petunia told you?" asked Narcissa. She then shook her head, "No, Harry, they didn't die in a car crash. They died protecting you."

"Me?"

"Yes, they did what any good parent would do, sacrifice themselves for their children," said Selene. "I only hope that, if I was in their position, that I'd be as brave as they wore in protecting you."

"What happened?" asked Harry.

"Years ago, before you were born, a bad wizard tried to gain power. He attacked all the good witches and wizards across the land," explained Andromeda, moving over and then kneeling down before Harry. "This man was so bad, and so powerful, that even now, years after his defeat, many are still afraid to say his name."

"What was his name?" asked Harry.

"I'm sad to say, but I'm among those too afraid to speak it," said Andromeda. "But we called him He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He attacked, as I said, many good witches and wizards, and surrounded himself with many bad witches and wizards. Your parents were among those that fought him, two of the bravest that fought him. Before you were born they had fought him and lived three times." Andromeda held up three fingers.

"And then, you were born, and because they loved you so much, they went into hiding," continued Andromeda. "For fifteen months they hid, safe behind wards, magical walls of a sort, that hid them from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Then, on Halloween, he found a way through the wards, and attacked them. Nobody knows what really happened that night, but in the end, three lay dead and one survived, you. That is why you are famous, for on the night when the most evil wizard in our lifetimes was defeated, you were the lone survivor. Many know you as the Boy-Who-Lived."

"Oh," said Harry, surprised at the story. "How did I survive?"

"Nobody knows," explained Selene, stepped forward and kneeling down next to Andromeda to look at Harry eye-to-eye. "Some say that your mother invoked ancient magics to protect you. She was smart enough to do so. Others say that a prophesy protected you, though nobody knows what it might be. Still others say that your mother and father fought him to a standstill, and rather than let them escape a fourth time, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named trapped them, and your mother and father defeated him, but paid a terrible price."

"Who betrayed them?" asked Harry.

Both Andromeda and Selene looked to Narcissa, as she was the one now responsible for Harry's wellbeing.

"Nobody knows for sure," said Narcissa. Both Andromeda and Selene looked surprised at Narcissa's defense of Sirius Black. "But our cousin, yours through your father's mother, as he was through my father, is rumored to have betrayed them, but I do not believe it."

"Why?" asked Harry.

"Would he have left everything to you if he had betrayed your parents?" asked Narcissa. At this both Andromeda and Selene were taken aback, they'd not thought of that. When he died earlier in the month, his will left everything to you, including his name."

"His name?" asked Harry. "But don't I have a name already?"

Narcissa chuckled, "Not like that. You see, our cousin was Sirius Black, but he was also Lord Black, Lord of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. He was the last surviving son of his parents. His father was the only son of his father, the former Lord Black. Lord Arcturus Black was the eldest and only one of his father's children to have children of his own. Lord Sirus Black, Lord Arcturus Black's father and the recently Late Lord Sirius Black's great-grandfather, was the eldest son of his father, Lord Phineas Nigellus Black. Lord Phineas Nigellus Black had three sons who had children, Lord Sirius Black the Elder, Cygnus Black, and Arcturus Black the Elder. Cygnus Black was your Great-Grandfather, as well as my own. My grandfather, Pollux Black, was your grandmother's, Dorea Potter née Black's, elder brother. Since you are the last surviving male relative of Cygnus Black, you are the next in line to be Lord Black."

"Wow," said Harry, though whether it was because he couldn't believe that he was a Lord, or that he didn't understand what his Aunt Cissy had explained, Narcissa couldn't tell.

"You're also Lord Potter, Lord of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Potter, as your father was before you, and his father, Lord Charlus Potter, wife of Dorea Potter née Black," added Andromeda.

"I'm Lord Potter and Lord Black?" asked Harry.

All three women nodded.

"So, even if I wasn't the Boy-Who-Lived, I'd be famous because I was Lord Potter and Lord Black, right?" asked Harry.

"Well, perhaps, but there's something else," said Andromeda.

"Andi, is now the right time?" asked Narcissa.

"If not now, Cissy, when?" asked Andromeda.

Narcissa sighed, knowing that by not telling Harry now, he'd just ask about it until they did, "Okay." She then turned to Harry, "Your grandfather, your mother's father, was Lord Marcus Rosier. When he had no sons of his own, his younger brother became Lord Julius Rosier when Lord Marcus died shortly before your mother was born. Lord Julius had one son, Evan Rosier, who was killed shortly after your were born. Lord Julius died two days ago, with no male heirs, which means, much like it did through your grandmother Dorea, you inherited the Rosier Lordship through your mother."

"So, three Lords?" asked Harry.

"Yes," said Narcissa with a nod, "Lord Black, Lord Potter, and Lord Rosier, as well as the famous Boy-Who-Lived."

"Is there anything else?" asked Harry.

"For now, that is all, though when you get older we'll discuss it again," said Narcissa. "For now, we will have supper, and after supper, we'll send you to bed."

Harry panicked, "Supper? I didn't help Aunt Petunia make supper."

Narcissa wrapped her arm around Harry and hugged him to her side, "Don't worry Harry. You won't have to ever much supper again."

He looked up into her face, "I won't?"

Narcissa shook her head, "No, you won't. Now, let's get you cleaned up." She then stood and then held Harry's hand as he got up off the couch. "Andi, make sure Dobby has supper ready." She then turned to Selene, "Will you be joining us?"

Selene shook her head, "No, I've got to return home. Xeno wouldn't know what to do with himself if I wasn't there, he's so wrapped up in his work. And Harry here is barely older than my Luna, so I'll need to make sure she's fine as well."

"I'll floo you tomorrow?" asked Narcissa.

Selene nodded, "Tomorrow." She then turned to Andromeda and gave the eldest Black sister a hug, "Andi, will you be joining us?"

"I've work on the morrow, but perhaps on the weekend. We can all get together and talk things over on the weekend. I've got to explain this to Ted as well."

"Andi, will you be staying for supper?" asked Narcissa.

"I'd love to Cissy, but as I just said, I've got to explain this to Ted. He'll be able to help with the complications, though."

"Two lawyers are better than one," said Narcissa. Andromeda gave her, and then Harry, a goodbye hug, then followed Selene to the fireplace. Harry watched, enraptured, and the women tossed a pinch of dust into the fireplace, and then stepped into the green flames before disappearing.

"Come Harry, let's get you cleaned up for supper, I guess it's just the two of us tonight."

-=aPBR=-

After a delightful supper, and a grateful Dobby surprising Harry, and all the complex explanations that that entailed, Narcissa finally got her young charge, her cousin, and already more of a son than Lucius' bastard ever hoped to be, into bed. Narcissa had to insist to harry that, yes, the room was his, and yes, the bed, which was the same size as her own, what Andromeda had called a "standard double", though Naricssa didn't quite understand how something could be both "standard" and "double" at the same time, though muggles were quite amazing, was his as well. She'd duplicated her own bedding, though she'd changed the black satin to a cheerful green with another spell, and it would have to do until she'd purchased some bedding, and a real rather than conjured, bed for Harry. While she was confident that her conjuration would last a couple of days, she'd rather get it taken care of as soon as possible. Yet another thing to add to her list now that she found herself suddenly a parent again.

Unfortunately Harry couldn't sleep, and so, in the middle of the night, Naricssa had, for the first time in her life, welcomed a member of the opposite sex into her bed, as she let Harry sleep next to her.

Much earlier than either Harry or Narcissa would have wanted, a bell woke them both up. Narcissa was momentarily confused, as she'd not set an alarm for herself or Harry the previous night, before she realized that it was somebody at the floo. With a gentle, "Go back to sleep Harry, it's just the floo," she slipped out of her bed, wrapped her night robe around her, and made her way out of her bedroom and into the living room, where the floo resided.

"Oh, there you are," said the face of Andromeda in the green flames of the floo, her voice tinged with panic.

"What are you doing calling this early in the morning?" asked Naricssa with a yawn.

"He's got Nymphadora," declared Andromeda.

"Who's…" began Narcissa, her brain still struggling to process things so soon after waking.

"Albus, he has my daughter," said Andromeda in a panic. "Can Ted and I come through?"

Narcissa, still not connecting the obvious fact that Nymphadora Tonks was at Hogwarts under the care of Headmaster Dumbledore with her elder sister's panic, acquiesced, "Come on through. I'll have Dobby put on a kettle."

The hyperactive house elf, who was overjoyed at serving both his Mistress and his new Master, Harry Potter, popped in, "Right away Mistress Cissy."

"Thank you Dobby," said Narticssa absent mindedly as she stepped back and watched first her sister and then her brother-in-law step out of the fireplace. Ted, as was expected of a muggleborn, was a little rough on his arrival, but he'd long since been told the secret of floo travel, to step "out" of the floo upon arrival. "Now," demanded Naricssa, "Tell my what's got you in a panic about your daughter being at Hogwarts."

"Cissy, what did we do yesterday?" asked Andromeda.

"We rescued Harry from his 'Aunt' Petunia, brought him back here, and did a little bit of explaining on how complex his life was going to be," said Narcissa.

"Yes, but how exactly did we rescue Harry, and whom exactly did we rescue him from?" asked Andromeda.

Naricssa scrunched up her face, "We took him away from his Aunt, who was abusing him. We barely got away because… Dumbledore… oh. I see."

Andromeda and Ted both nodded, "Now you see out problem."

"What we did was entirely legal," explained Naricssa. She then looked concerned, "Right?"

"From what Andi explained to me, it seems so," confirmed Ted. He was surprised at the change that had happened to his sister-in-law since the annulment of her marriage. For one thing, she was being surprisingly civil to him.

"But he still hold much too much power for us to get on his bad side," worried Andromeda.

"He came into Petunia's house, uninvited I might add, unlike us, and when we were disinclined to acquiesce to his request, instead of be civil, he cast a _bombarda_," explained Narcissa.

"It's still our word against his, and while he's not done anything to my Nymphadora yet, I'd rather we strengthen out position so that he'll not be tempted to do so," said Andromeda.

"We're daughters of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, our blood is as pure as the driven snow, while he's a half-blood, his mother a muggleborn, when it gets to the Wizengamot, fi it gets that far, he'll not stand a chance," declared Narcissa.

"We're daughters of a House without a Lord, at least, not a recognized one. Harry's a minor, he's not even five years old, what strength does being a Black, at least now that I am one again…"

Narcissa interrupted her sister, "You never weren't."

"If you insist, but as I was saying, What strength does begin a Black give us without a Lord to tell the Wizengamot what to do?"

Narcissa thought, "Well, I was hoping to put it off for a few years, but I guess we should go to the College of Arms," declared Narcissa.

"The College of Arms?" asked Ted.

"Ted, I know you're a muggleborn, but even you should know that the College of Arms is the authority in which pedigree is established, and through pedigree, Lordship," explained Narcissa.

"I thought, with the Statute of Secrecy," stuttered Ted.

"Which was established in 1692, after being signed in 1689," explained Narcissa, her passion for History showing. While most of her classmates had fallen asleep in Professor Binns' class, as had most of his students since even before his death in the 18th Century, over two hundred years ago, Narcissa had actually enjoyed History of Magic, and had received her NEWT in it. "The College of Arms, though, predates the Statute by over two hundred years, having been established by King Richard the Third in 1484. While the office within the Ministry is staffed by wizards rather than muggles, they still provide the same services. Harry will easily be able to claim the Potter Lordship, and had a Regent established for him, but for the Black and Rosier Lordships, we need to get a pedigree from the College of Arms."

"Ah," said Ted, properly chastised.

"Do you think having Regents will help?" asked Andromeda.

"Albus votes the Potter seat on the Wizengamot, as the designated magical guardian of Harry, though he is not Regent Potter, since he is head of the Dumbledore family instead," explained Narcissa. "The Late Lord Julian Rosier voted his own seat, and Aunt Walburga still votes the Black seat as Sirius' mother, though she's not long for the world, I'd not be surprised if she doesn't last the year. No, without the pedigree from the College of Arms we can't take control of the Rosier and Black seats, and thus exert our own influence over the Wizengamot."

"Do you think it is too early?" asked Andromeda.

Narcissa glanced at the clock above the mantle, and in the candlelight of her flat's living room she saw that it was barely a quarter past five in the morning, "Yes, it's not yet half five. We all know that the Ministry opens at eight and starts to do business by nine. Albus has had barely twelve hours with your daughter and against us, and he's constrained by the role he plays as Headmaster. We'll make sure that Nymphadora is safe, but it'll have to wait until later in the morning."

"Later in the morning?" asked Ted. "But won't it take time for the College of Arms to assemble the pedigree?"

Narcissa shook her head, "Shan't take more than a few minutes. All they need is a drop of Harry's blood and with a wave of their wand the pedigree with assemble itself."

"Ah," said Ted, looking ashamed, "Something I'm still amazed at what can be done with magic."

-=aPBR=-


	8. Chapter 8

I do not own the characters, locations, nor situations described herein, those remain the sole property of J.K. Rowling.

**Author's Note: **The second of these scenes is pretty long, which is why I cut it there, rather than write another long scene after it to get to the next part. So, we'll not see Amelia just yet, but we do see where our Black Sisters might need to make a compromise with Albus to continue. Sometimes these things require much more words to get across than I initially expect.

Chapter 8

-=aPBR=-

Three adults and one child walked up to the security desk in the atrium of the Ministry of Magic. Ned Stark, who had failed to become an auror, or even a hit wizard, after Hogwarts because he'd not been able to take NEWT potions when Professor Snape took over, was begrudgingly sitting behind the desk. It was still early in the morning as the Day Watchwizard hadn't arrived to take his place, and so he was tired, irritable, and not exactly sociable. "Welcome to the Ministry of Magic," he droned as he looked the group over. Since they'd stopped by his desk they obviously weren't employees of the Ministry, which meant he'd have to search them with the probity probe and then identify their wands. He stood, grabbing the golden device that, as a muggle-raised halfblood, he identified as a car antenna in his mind, "If you'll just stand still while I search you."

"Of course," said the older of the two witches. He waved the dark detector over all four, and it revealed no concealment spells or hidden magical objects.

Ned thanks them for their time, then went back behind his desk, "And your wands?"

The man, dressed in a brown robe with blue pinstripes over a muggle-style suit of similar fabric, extracted his wand from within the left sleeve of his robe, and presented it, holding by the tip, to Ned, who after placing it on the wand weigher, examined the results.

"Twelve and three-eight inches, unicorn-tail core, been in use for twenty-two years. That correct?" asked Ned.

Ted nodded, "That's correct."

Ned smiled, placed the slip of parchment on the brass spike on his desk, and then returned the wand to Ted.

The older of the two witches, who like the man was wearing a robe over muggle clothes, in her case a dark blue robe over a suit of a similar fabric, handed him her wand, though he'd not seen where she'd kept it. After weighing it, he examined the parchment, "Elven and a half inches, dragon-heartstring core, been in use for twenty-two years. All that correct?"

The witch nodded, "Sounds about right, at least that's what it said the last few dozen times I've been through this."

"I'm just doing my job ma'am," explained Ned, handing back the wand after placing the parchment atop the previous one. He looked to the youngest of the three adults, "And your wand ma'am?"

The witch, wearing a finely tailored black satin robe brought up her arm, and with a flick of her wrist, had her wand in hand. Either the probity probe hadn't found the hidden wand holster she wore on her wrist, or it wasn't hidden with magic. She flipped the wand around in her hand, holding it by the tip and presented it to Ned, "My wand, now be careful with it."

"Of course ma'am," said Ned. After weighing it, he returned it to the witch, "Elven and seven-sixteenths inches, dragon-heartstring core, been in use for eighteen years."

"Thank you," said the haughty witch. She then flipped her wand back around, and with another flick of her wrist, her hand was empty once more. She placed her now empty wand hand on the shoulder of the young boy standing next to her. His black hair peeked out from under the hat he was wearing, and his black robes had the smooth quality that Ned had come to associate with conjured fabric. "Is there anything else?"

"No ma'am," said Ned. "Enjoy your visit to the Ministry of Magic."

The group was about to leave before the black-robed witch stopped, and turned back to Ned, "What floor is the College of Arms on?"

"The Fifth, three levels up," he said, pointing towards the domed peacock blue ceiling above.

"Thank you," said the witch, before rejoining her group and the queue to enter the lifts beyond the golden gates that separated the Ministry from the Atrium.

-=aPBR=-

"Really Cissy," joked Ted once they were alone on the lift, "all that sturm und drang about the College of Arms, and you don't even know where it is?"

"I know of it, but as the middle daughter of a son not of the mainline of the Blacks, I had no need to ever come to the College, and so I didn't know where it was," explained Narcissa.

"What's 'sturm and drang'?" asked Harry, speaking for the first time since nearly tumbling out of the floo.

"Sturm und drang, a German phrase meaning 'storm and drive', it's something my mum used to say when she was explaining her rants to my father. You see, she was a war bride, one of the last survivors of her family after the Second World War, what the Wizards call the Grindlewald War, since Grindlewald tried to use Hitler to take over the magical part of Europe," explained Ted, kneeling down int he lift to look Harry in the eye.

"Who's Grendelwall?" asked Harry.

Ted looked up at Narcissa, the admitted History afficianado, "Can you explain it to a five year old?"

Narcissa was about to say something with the lift bell rung and the gates opened to the fifth floor, the flying memos exchanging themselves. She smiled at Ted, "Perhaps once we're done here."

"Thanks," said Ted. He then stood and offered his hand to Harry, "Come on Harry, let's go get you lordified."

Harry smiled at the word, "Lordified!"

Narcissa and Andromeda both rolled their eyes and they lead the men in their lives out of the lift. Luckily there was a sign on the wall, and with a bit of walking around and a couple of backtacks, they finally made their way to the College of Arms Ministry of Magic Annex.

"Welcome to the College of Arms," said an ancient wizard in a colorful robe. It took Ted a couple of seconds to recognize the lions and harp from the Coat of Arms of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. "I am Herald William Fitzhoward, what can the College of Arms do for your today?"

"We'd like to have a pedigree done," stated Narcissa.

"A pedigree?" asked the Herald, raising his eyebrows. "Haven't done one of those in years. You weren't sent here from Gringotts by chance, were you?"

"No sir, Father made sure that we knew exactly the limits of what the goblins had to offer proper witches and wizards," replied Narcissa. She then looked sidelong to her sister, "Though apparently only some of us were listening when he spoke of the College of Arms."

Andromeda huffed, but said nothing.

"Indeed, indeed, some of the less educated seem to think that almost everything could be hand through that Goblin bank," said the Herald with a scoff. "As if they'd be able to do anything we haven't allowed them to do. They only regulate our banking because of the Treaty following the Goblin Rebellion of 247."

"As much as we'd enjoy a history lesson," interrupted Narcissa, we have important things that need to be done.

"Ah, of course," said the Herald. He looked to Ted, "So, you seem a bit old to be getting your pedigree, but perhaps you've just realized you might be able to inherit. When Lord Rosier died I expected someone to come by to prove his status and claim the estate."

Ted chuckled, "No, it's nor for me. I'm a muggleborn."

The Herald chuckled, "As if that means anything. Think man, does magic come from nothing? Like a ginger child born of two brunets, a magical child does not come from out of the æther."

"Again, as much as we'd like to here your theories on the source of muggleborn magic, we do need that pedigree," interrupted Naricssa again. She pulled Harry from Ted's side, "This is my nephew, and we have reason to believe that he's a Lord, if only because his godfather and cousin bequeathed it to him."

"Ah, I see," said the Herald. He then nodded, and carefully removed his wand from a holster on his hip. With a wave of his hand a massive sheet of parchment, of a meter long and nearly a meter wide, flew from behind him and settled onto the counter beside him. He then tucked his wand away and smoothed the parchment down on the counter. "Now, we'll just need a drop of blood."

"Blood?" asked Harry.

Narcissa kneeled down in front of Harry, "It's just a drop, and it won't hurt a bit. I'll make sure it's healed right up once you're done."

Harry chewed on his finger, then nodded, "Okay Aunt Cissy."

With a bit of a flourish the Herald produced a silver pin, with which he pricked Harry's right forefinger, and then carefully held the hand above the parchment, just an inch in from the edge, where a single circle half an inch in diameter was the only mark on the parchment. The five people in the room got quiet as the crimson drop fell from Harry;s finger onto the parchment.

The drop of blood seemed to pool in the center of the circle, and then, over a period of about five seconds, get absorbed by the paper, leaving a crimson circle behind. Above the circle, in beautiful script, the magic of the parchment wrote out "Harry James Potter".

"Oh," said the Herald, surprised. He then looked at Harry, and with his finger pushed aside the fringe on Harry's forehead, revealing the lightning-bolt scar.

Narcissa, Andromeda, and, Ted, on the other hand, paid attention to the parchment, watching as a solid line drew itself away from Harry's name, then spilt at ninety degrees before ending and spelling out the names "James Charlus Potter" and "Lilian Rose Potter née Rosier". Just then the Herald looked and gave a gasp, "But I thought her name was 'Evans'."

"It's a long story," explained Naricssa, watching two lines draw up from the names of Harry's parents, and then split again, revealing four more names, "Charlus Eliezer Potter", "Dorea Britomartis Potter née Black", "Marcus Evander Rosier", and "Rosa Rubia Rosier née Lafleur". Harry's grandparents's names grew lines of their own, and their parents in turn were revealed, including Cygnus Black and Violetta Bulstrude, parents of Dorea Black. Further and further up the family tree the pedigree climbed, though after a few more generations there wasn't always twice as many names as the generation before, revealing siblings among Harry's ancestors. Eventually the pedigree reached the far edge of the parchment, twenty generations back.

The Herald levitated the pedigree with his wand, and examined it. "Interesting, very interesting."

"What's interesting?" asked Narcissa.

"Well, as you might expect, one's family tree is never as pure as one would hope, though there aren't nearly as many muggles on this pedigree as the only son of the famous Lily Evans would be expected to have, though perhaps it is because Mrs. Potter wasn't an Evans, but instead a Rosier," the Herald said. He touched the parchment with his wand, touching the t-shaped line between "Lilian Potter" and her parents. The cross-bar grew two new descenders, naming "Olivia Serena Evans née Rosier" and "Druella Imperia Black née Evans".

The Herald looked to Narcissa and Andromeda, "I would not have expected such a close relationship between either of you and the Boy-Who-Lived."

"Be that as it may," said Narcissa, not wanting to get sidetracked. "We believe that Harry here is entitled to at least one Lordship, and possibly more. How quickly can you tell us which, if any, he is entitled to?"

"Tis a simple matter," said the Herald. He directed the pedigree parchment to a nearby wall, and then stuck it there. He then began to say a long incantation while drawing a complex pattern with his wand. Finally, nearly a minute and a half after he began, six crests resolved themselves at the bottom of the parchment, three to the left, and three to the right, of Harry's name. "Very interesting."

"You keep saying that word," commented Ted. "I don't think it means what you think it does."

Andromeda elbowed him in the ribs, "Stop quoting books that none of the rest of us have read."

Ted smiled, and bowed to his wife, "As you wish."

She just rolled her eyes.

"Back to the pedigree," said Narcissa, turning from her sister and brother-in-law to the Herald of the College of Arms.

"Yes, as I was about to say before I was so rudely interrupted. There are six Lordships to which young Lord Potter is entitled to."

"Six?" asked Narcissa, surprised.

"Yes, though only three are active, that would be the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, the Most Noble and Ancient House of Potter, and the simply Noble House of Rosier. Three others are in abeyance, no longer active, but still of note. Two are by blood, the House of Peverell and the House of Gryffindor, while the third is by conquest, the House of Slytherin."

"Peverell, Gryffindor, and Slytherin?" asked Narcissa.

"How exactly did he receive the House of Slytherin by conquest?" asked Ted.

The Herald examined the parchment, tracing a nearly invisible line from the Slytherin coat of arms to Harry's family tree. He then gasped, "It seems that his mother, Lilian Potter, killed the last of the Line of Slytherin after her husband was killed, and interestingly enough, after she herself was dead, though perhaps only by minutes. Since the Heir of Slytherin had no heirs of his own, and he had recently killed Lord Potter, his mantle was passed magically to her, and since she was dead, to her heir, young Lord Potter here."

"So He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named really was the Heir of Slytherin," said Narcissa.

"I'm not so sure of that, for it says that a one 'Tom Marvolo Riddle' was the Heir of Slytherin before his death," explained the Herald, examining the pedigree.

"Such a pedestrian name for such a tyrannical man," commented Ted.

"So, obviously, since Lord Potter is underage, he will need to have a regent to act on his behalf," said Narcissa, finally getting to the meat of the matter.

"He will need to have three regents," declared the Herald. "One for each Noble or Most Noble house, so as to not have any conflicts of interest."

Narcissa looked at Andromeda, who nodded, and then to Ted, who shrugged, and then after Narcissa glared at him, nodded as well. She then turned to the Herald, "We just happen to have three adults related to Lord Potter right here. Would you be able to establish us as his Regents?"

The Herald looked at Narcissa, and then at her sister, and her brother-in-law, "While I have no doubt that as the young Lord Potter's cousin you, and by extension, you sister, qualify as his Regents, unless this wizard is a close blood relations of the young Lord Potter, you'd need someone else to be his third Regent."

"How close?" asked Andromeda.

"Parent or sibling is preferred, though obviously not possible. Aunts, uncles, first cousins, nieces, and nephews would also suffice. Did Olivia Evans have any children?" asked the Herald.

"She did, though Petunia Dursley née Evans died yesterday," said Andromeda with a sigh.

"Quite disappointing. That leaves just one other option as the third regent," said the Herald, looking at the Druella Black line of the pedigree. With a tap of his wand a horizontal line extended out from beneath Druella's name, though it did not reveal her husband, instead three lines descended, and three names formed out of the crimson ink. The rightmost name was "Narcissa Persephone Black", the middle was "Andromeda Amphitrite Tonks née Black", while the third and final name, the eldest of the black sisters, and the only applicable option for Harry's third regent, was "Bellatrix Artemis Lestrange née Black".

"Scheiße," exclaimed Ted.

-=aPBR=-


	9. Chapter 9

I do not own the characters, locations, nor situations described herein, those remain the sole property of J.K. Rowling.

**Author's Note:** Yes, I know that Regency is for sovereigns, rather than the peerage, but in my imagining of the magical world the Houses were originally old Kingdoms before being conquered, and since they were magical, they don't exactly follow the rules of the mundane world.

Chapter 9

-=aPBR=-

"I, Andromeda Amphitrite Tonks, born of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, cousin of Lord Harry James Potter, born of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, the Most Noble and Ancient House of Potter, and the Noble House of Rosier, do solemnly swear on my life and magic to serve the interests of my Lord as his regent above all other Lords and Ladies, and to faithfully act in the best interests of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Potter as his Regent until he comes of age and relieves me of my duty," said Andromeda, grasping her oak and dragon-heartstring wand in her left hand. A stream of golden magic arced from her wand tip to Harry's chest, and then arced to her own chest. Then, with a flash, the magic wrapped itself around the fourth finger of her right hand, and then settled into a golden band with a ruby setting.

"Welcome, Regent Potter," said the Herald.

"Where'd the ring come from?" asked Ted, who had stepped up to examine his wife after the magic faded away.

"I suspect from either the Potter Vault at Gringotts or their Ancestral Manor," said the Herald.

"The Ancestral Manor of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Potter is Rowan Hill, or also _Cerddinen Allt_, located within the Lowland Hundred, or also _Cantre'r Gwaelod_, in Cardigan Bay," said Andromeda, her eyes rolled back into her head.

"What?" asked Ted. "What was that?"

"It seems that Lord Charlus had the Potter Manor sealed before his death," said Andromeda, shaking her head. "As Regent Potter, I'm now the secret keeper."

Naricssa looked to the Herald, "Is it wise for him to know?"

Andromeda looked to the Herald, then momentarily got a glazed look to her eyes, before shaking her head again, as if to clear it. "I believe so."

"There are ancient rites that I must adhere to," said the Herald. He then gave a bit of a bow to Narcissa, "If it pleases you, may we continue?"

"Of course," said Naricssa. She extracted her wand once more from it's hidden holster, and grasping it in her right hand, for unlike her sister she was right-handed, spoke the oath. "I, Narcissa Persephone Black, born of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, cousin of Lord Harry James Potter, born of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, the Most Noble and Ancient House of Potter, and the Noble House of Rosier, do solemnly swear on my life and magic to serves the interests of my Lord as his regent above all other Lords and Ladies, and to faithfully act in the best interests of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black as his Regent until he comes of age and relieves my of my duty." This time is was a steam of black magic that arced from her wand to Harry's chest, and then to her own chest, before, in a flash, wrapping itself around the fourth finger of her left hand, settling into a dark green, nearly black gold band with an emerald setting.

"Welcome, Regent Black," said the Herald.

Narcissa cocked her head to the side, her sister, brother-in-law, and Lord watching.

"Anything?" asked Ted.

"Well, I already knew where the Ancestral Manor of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black was," said Naricssa. "While I'm the secret keeper now, it's not like it's news to me."

"Well, now that that's done," said the Herald, "Do you know if and when Mrs. Lestrange will be sworn in as Regent Rosier?"

"I doubt it'll happen anything this decade, or even this century," said Ted with a shudder. "She's received over a dozen consecutive life sentences at Azkaban. It's not like we can just convince the Wizengamot to pardon her, even with the seats of the House of Black and House of Potter."

"If we weren't worried about your daughter, I'd suggest we bargain with Albus for her release," said Narcissa.

"Are you as crazy as your sister?" asked Ted, nearly screaming.

"There's not need to shout," said Narcissa. "Come now, you're a lawyer, surely you understand that if Bella swears the same oath that Andi and I just did, changing to Rosier of course, that she'll no longer be beholden to the Dark Lord."

"Who's dead," said Ted.

"Not necessarily," countered Andromeda.

"What?" asked Ted, rounding on his wife. "What do you mean he might not be dead. He died, that was confirmed when his status as the Heir of Slytherin was transferred to Harry, by way of his mother."

"True, but just because he died doesn't mean he's dead," said Andromeda. "It's well known how obsessed he was with immortality."

"But…" stuttered Ted.

"Plus, if he was truly dead, would Albus Dumbledore risk what he did to keep him out of our, my hands?" asked Narcissa.

"Are we done yet?" asked Harry, who didn't like it when people shouted and fought around him, since it reminded him of the shouting, and then the beatings, from the Dursleys.

Narcissa turned from Ted, the furor instantly fleeing from her face, "We're done here, for now. We are not, though, done with our trip for the day."

"Where to now?" asked Andromeda, who had come up next to her sister to comfort her Lord.

"We need to find the contracts," said Narcissa.

"Yes, the contracts," confirmed Andromeda with a sigh.

"How many contracts can there be?" asked Ted.

"Ted, honey, you've never had to work a pureblood contract negotiation, so you don't really understand what it entails. Almost every major business contract between Houses, between the members of the nobility, those with Wizengamot seats, involve a marriage contract, thought they're almost trivially easy to delay or defer to further generations. It's tradition, and any House that did not include such a clause would be suspected of duplicity, since it would symbolize lack of faith in the success of the contract. Only those contracts between Houses with outstanding marriage clauses would be exempt from this loss of face, since it is seen as an affirmation of the existing relationship between the Houses," explained Andromeda.

"Oh," said Ted. "Gotcha."

"So," said Narcissa, turning on her heel to face the Herald, "We thank you for you assistance."

The Herald bowed, "It was my utmost pleasure, Regent Black. I wish you luck in your endeavors."

"Thank you Herald Fitzhoward," said Andromeda.

"Harry, say thank you to the Herald," said Naricssa.

"Thank you Herald," said Harry.

The Herald chuckled, "You are most welcome, My Lord." He gave a bow to Harry.

"Yes, thank you," said Ted after getting elbowed by his wife.

-=aPBR=-

As the two Regents, their Lord, and Ted, walked from the Golden Gates towards the floo, a voice called out to them, "Mr. Tonks, Mrs. Tonks, Ms. Black, a moment please."

They, as a group turned to see a severe looking woman about the same age as the adults, with strawberry blonde hair and the dark red robes of an auror.

"Senior Auror Bones," said Andromeda with a smile, "What do we owe this rather, public, meeting to."

Amelia Bones rushed the last few strides to catch up with the group, rather than shout across the atrium. She nodded her head to Harry, "I'm here regarding this young man."

"Is this part of an official investigation?" asked Ted.

"It is as Regent Bones," she said clearly. At the slightly wider gaze of Andromeda and Narcissa, she glanced down and noticed the obvious Regency Rings both women wore. "I apologize."

"Apologize?" asked Naricissa.

"Yes, Regents, I do apologize for not calling you by your proper titles," said Amelia.

"It has been but a few minutes," said Andromeda. "For that, you can be forgiven. I am Regent Potter, and as you can guess, my sister here is Regent Black."

"And Regent Rosier?" asked Amelia, glancing to Ted.

Ted shook his head, "Unfortunately not. It seems that, while I am married to Regent Potter, I am not quite closely enough related to Harry to be his Regent. It seems that only one woman alive matches the criteria."

At the pale looks that crossed the faces of the Black Sisters Amelia understood, "Bellatrix Lestange."

"The one and only," said Ted.

"That is most unfortunate," said Amelia. "I have, though, come to talk to you regarding a contract between the Noble and Ancient House of Bones and the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black."

"A contract?" asked Narcissa. "But, the Blacks and the Bones have been enemies for centuries. It wasn't until you and Sirus met at Hogwrats that…" Narcissa then stopped as she noticed the emotion wash across Amelia's face. "You and Sirius?"

Amelia nodded, "Yes, we contracted before Edgar and Gregory died, and obviously before he was unjustly incarcerated."

"Unjustly?" asked Andromeda.

"My Siri would never have betrayed James and Lily, he loved them more than he loved his own family," Amelia insisted. "Charlus and Dorea took him in, practically made them their second son. He even convinced them to let me come to Rowan Hill." Amelia paused, "Wait, I can say the name."

"I'm the secret keeper," admitted Andromeda, holding up her right hand to illustrate the Regency Ring.

"Ah, and since your weren't in on the secret beforehand, you must have admitted it when you took the Regency Oath," explained Amelia with a nod. "But, I digress. Sirius and I were contracted, but following his death, the contract switched to young Harry here, and from myself to my Lady, Susan. And with the death of Lord Julius Rosier three days ago, that means that no matter what, the contract will have to go into effect, although luckily for Susan it is a Line Continuation Contract, and so she will not be the last of the Bones."

"Ah, perhaps we had better discuss this in a less public place," offered Naricssa.

"Cissy, what about my daughter?" asked Andromeda. "We need to focus on that. The contract with the House of Bones will still be there, if we don't stop Albus quickly, my daughter might not."

"Wait, is Albus Dumbledore holding your daughter?" asked Amelia, her countenance changed from her previous interaction.

"We're not sure," clarified Ted. "Though, he has reason to."

"Does this have anything to do with the explosion at Number Four Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, yesterday evening?" asked Amelia.

"Are you asking as Regent Bones or Senior Auror Bones?" asked Andromeda.

"I'm asking as someone who has a reason to wish to see Albus Dumbledore taken down a peg or three," answered Amelia. She then stepped back a step and kneeled down before Harry. "Harry, have you ever seen an older man with a long white beard?"

Harry shook his head, "No."

Amelia stifled a curse.

"He was already unconscious when it happened," said Narcissa in a calculated statement. "We, though, did see Albus Dumbledore at the house of our cousin, Petunia Dursley, née Evans, born of the Noble House of Rosier."

Amelia raised her eyebrows, "Hence the Regencies."

"Unfortunately, the Potter and Black Regencies hold more power than the Rosier Regency," admitted Narcissa. "We would, though, be interested in seeing the cousin of our Lord be avenged."

"You're talking blackmail?" asked Amelia.

"Of course not," said Andromeda. "Albus Dumbledore did, though, destroy a muggle house in Surrey yesterday, home to one squib and one potential wizard of the House of Rosier, as well as the Lord of the Houses of Black, Potter, and Rosier. If not for our timely arrival, it is likely that our Lord would have perished in the attack." She did not mention, of course, that it is likely their arrival that precipitated the attack, but to have known about their arrival, Albus would have to admit to having illegal wards around the house. "We wish to seek restitution for the attack against our Houses and our Lord's kin."

"Perhaps we should continue this discussion someplace more secure," offered Amelia. She then gestured to a secluded floo fireplace that was reserved for Lords and Ladies of the Wizengamot, or their Regents.

"Where are we going?" asked Harry.

Amelia kneeled down in front of Harry and beside the floo, "Harry, I'm going to tell you a secret. Would you like to know a secret?"

Harry nodded.

"The Ancestral Manor of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Bones is the Ossuary, located within South Mercia, also known as Warwickshire," said Amelia, her own Regency Ring growing slightly warm as the magic flowed out of it. Amelia then stood, grabbed a pinch of floo powder from the urn next to the already lit fireplace, and threw it in, declaring, "The Ossuary" as she did so. The flames turned green just as she walked into them, and she disappeared into the floo network. Andromeda followed Amelia, walking into the still green flames, declaring his destination as she did so. Harry, holding Narcissa's hand, followed Andromeda, both of them saying the name of their destination. Ted, turning around to make sure they'd not be followed, was the last through the floo from the Ministry of Magic to the Ossuary.

-=aPBR=-


	10. Chapter 10

I do not own the characters, locations, nor situations described herein, those remain the sole property of J.K. Rowling.

**Author's Note:** There's a poll on my profile page regarding the inflammatory information about one of the contracts revealed in the final scene. Go there if you'd like to show your (non-binding) opinion.

Chapter 10

-=aPBR=-

Amelia removed her head from the fireplace, "The Lovegoods should be here in a few minutes. Selene is brining both Xeno and their daughter Luna."

By now the only people in the room were Amelia, Andromeda, Ted, and Narcissa, since Amelia had suggested that, since Susan and Harry were going to be married eventually, they'd might as well be friends, and so had sent the young Lord Potter-Black-Rosier to play with the young Lady Bones.

"So, while we're waiting, what can you tell me about our chances of taking down Albus?" asked Narcissa.

"Slim to none," she said resolutely.

"That bad?" asked Ted. "I mean, we have witnesses."

"If it was anybody else, even Minster Bagnold herself, it'd be an open and shut case," explained Amelia. "The problem is, this is Albus Dumbledore. We all had him as our Headmaster, and our parents likely had him as their Transfiguration Porfessor, so most of our society sees him as an authority figure. Plus, he defeated Grindlewald, which places him in a nearly unassailable position of righteousness. Add in his positions as Chief Warlock and Head Mugawump, and unless he uses the Killing Curse in the middle of the Ministry Atrium or on the steps of Gringotts, he's untouchable, and even then, he'll likely get out of a trip to Azkaban with a comparable slap on the wrist."

"So it's hopeless?" asked Andromeda.

"Hopeless, no, I never said so, I just said it's pointless to try to convict him of killing a squib and a possible wizard, no matter how connected they are to the Boy-Who-Lived," clarified Amelia.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" asked Ted.

"Blackmail," answered Narcissa with a nod.

Amelia nodded, "It's not my preferred method, but I've already lost my Siri to that man's machinations, I'm not going to lose the Boy-Who-Lived as well."

Just then the fireplace flared green, and out stepped Selene Lovegood with her four-year old daughter Luna, and followed by Xeno Lovegood, a known eccentric, generally thought to be brought to lucidity by his loving wife.

"Ah, welcome to my home," said Amelia to her guests.

"Senior Auror Bones," began Xeno with a bit of a bow. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Call me Amelia, Mr. Lovegood." she replied.

"Well, if we're being familiar, then I insist you call me Xeno. Now, where is the young Lady Bones and Lord Potter-Black-Rosier?"

"Well, Lady Bones, my niece, is currently playing with Lord Potter-Black-Rosier," explained Amelia.

"Ah good," said Xeno. He then turned and nodded to his wife, "I'll take our Lunette to see her future husband and sister wife, and I'll be bask shortly."

"Xeno, let me get an elf to direct you," Amelia quickly added as Xeno took his daughter's hand and headed for the door.

"A wise decision, it might not be wise for me to get lost is here," replied Xeno.

"Buffy," commanded Amelia, and at that a house elf attired in a pillowcase emblazoned with the crest of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Bones.

"Yes M'tress Amy?" asked the elf.

"Show Xeno and Luna here to where Susan and Harry are playing, will you?"

"Yes'm M'tress Amy," said the elf with a nod. She then turned to the two Lovegoods, "If'n Mast'r Strange and M'tress Moon would follows me?"

After the three left Andromeda turned to Selene, who had said nothing since her arrival, "Selene, I'm glad you could make it, and I see now why Cissy only talked with you yesterday."

"He's a good man, a bit odd, but he loves me, and we were able to take care of a debt between our families when we married," said Selene with a sigh. "And after hearing about my cousin's son, I'm glad that he has no possible claim on my daughter, no matter if she'll have to marry Harry."

"It seems my Lord will be taking quite a few brides," said Andromeda.

"Oh, you've taken teh Regency Oath I see," said Selene with a smile.

"Yes, we both have," said Narcissa. "But today we have more important things to talk about."

"Such as?" asked Selene.

"How we're going to blackmail Albus Dumbledore," said Amelia resolutely.

-=aPBR=-

"Okay, where did this come from?" asked Selene, taking a seat on one of the many cushioned chairs, each seemingly made from human bones, though luckily not upholstered in anything close to leather.

"We realized that my daughter, Nyphadora, is still at Hogwarts, and he saw us when he attacked yesterday, so he knows I am involved, and so we need to make sure my daughter is safe," explained Andromeda.

"So," thought Selene, looking at the adults in the room. She noticed a Regent's ring on the hands of the women, but not Ted's. "I'm guessing that the second shoe to drop is that dear Bellatrix is going to be needed at Harry's third Regent?"

"How'd you know?" asked Ted.

"The rings," said Selene. "Plus if it was just your daughter it would simply be a matter of waiting until the end of the week and then going to the Prophet if he doesn't let her leave."

"Oh," said Ted and Andromeda in unison.

"Albus has taken a keen interest in Harry, and since Hogwarts is pretty much the only option unless we want to send them to Beaubatons or across the Pond to Salem, we need to make sure Nymphadora, Harry, and even Susan and Luna are kept safe from the Headmaster's machinations," explained Amelia.

"As well as secure Bellatrix as his third Regent," added Selene. She then added, "I assume you two are Regents Black and Potter?"

"That we are, so my dear sister will need to swear fealty as Regent Rosier, but at least it will supplant any loyalty she has to Riddle," confirmed Naricssa.

"Who?" asked Amelia and Selene in nearly the same unison as Ted and Andromeda had previously exhibited.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle, otherwise known as Lord Voldemort, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and You-Know-Who," explained Andromeda.

"Yes, apparently he was the Heir of Slytherin before he was killed by Lily Potter, which means that Harry is not just Lord Potter, Black, and Rosier, but also the Heir of Slytherin, Gryffindor, and if you're believe it, Peverell," explained Ted.

"Peverell?" asked Xeno from the doorway. "Did you just say something about the Peverells?"

"Yes dear," said Selene, gesturing him over to stand next to her chair, "Ted was explaining that in addition to his extant Lordships, Harry is the Heir of three Houses in abeyance, Slytherin, through conquest, Gryffindor, and Peverell."

"Interesting," said Xeno, fingering a small triangular pendant.

"So, we put his attack on Privet Drive against the health and safety of the children as well as securing Bella," summarized Narcissa.

"Seems a bit thin for Blackmail," said Selene.

"Well, there were illegal wards on Privet Drive," added Amelia. "They contained the damage to just the house, killing Petunia Dursley née Evans, and her son, Dudley Dursley. That they were both descendants of Marcus Rosier, although Petunia was obviously a squib, means that we can put more pressure on him."

"We need more," said Xeno. "This is barely enough for an exposé, let along blackmail."

Ted and the three Regents looks surprised at his comment.

"What do we know of why he was there in the first place?"asked Xeno.

"Well, Petunia was Lily's cousin, though thought to be her sister, perhaps that's why," asked Narcissa.

Xeno shook his head, "It'd take more than that to get him sent there, even Albus couldn't swing that through the Wizengamot. They'd be clamoring to send him to a wizarding family. It wasn't until the third or fourth of November of '81 before Sirius Black was revealed as the traitor, so even he'd have been a better choice, since the Potters were close with Sirius."

Amelia and Andromeda both tried to say something at the same time, though eventually it was decided for Amelia to go first.

"Siri wouldn't have betrayed them, he wasn't like his family, didn't believe is the pureblood doctrine of Vol… Riddle," explained Amelia.

"Siri?" asked Xeno.

"I was engaged to Sirius Black until his death, after which point the contract transferred from myself and Siri to Susan and Harry," explained Amelia, "Since it was between our Houses, rather than individually."

"And you Andi?" asked Selene.

"Sirius Black was Harry's godfather," she explained. "I doubt he could have betrayed them without it costing him his life and magic."

"So, was Sirius Black framed?" asked Xeno.

"And more importantly, did Albus know about it? He sent an innocent man, and a Lord of the Wizengamot, to Azkaban," asked Ted.

"Why didn't this come out at the trial?" asked Selene.

"There wasn't one," said Amelia sorrowfully.

"What?" exclaimed the rest of the people in the room.

"Albus claimed that Sirius was the secret keeper, combined with his killing of Peter Petigrew, and Bagnold and Crouch just forced it through without a trial. I was just a Junior Auror at the time, barely a year out of training, so I couldn't risk my job to speak up. I had assumed it would have come to trial once things settled down."

"Even Lucius got a trial," said Narcissa. "Sure, he bribed his way out of it, but it still happened."

"Perhaps someone bribed it so that Sirius wouldn't get a trial?" asked Xeno.

"That's a possibility, he was, to use one of his favorite sayings, the 'White Sheep' of the House of Black," said Amelia.

"So, we need to figure out how much Albus was involved with Black's lack of a trial, as well as how Harry ended up at a muggle home in Surrey," confirmed Selene.

"But what about our daughter?" asked Ted.

"Right now we need more information, I'm sorry. Albus can't hold her past the end of the month. If she'd not home by the first of July, the Monday after next, then we confront him," explained Amelia.

"We could use some more allies," said Andromeda with a sigh.

"Well, you got me and the Lovegood through the contracts, perhaps we can collect some more in the same fashion," Amelia pointed out.

"That means a trip to Gringotts," said Andromeda. "Any contracts should be in the family vaults there."

"It'll only be the Black and Potter contracts, since without a Regent, we can't get access to the vault," added Narcissa.

"Should we get the children?" asked Xeno.

"We should be able to get them in less than an hour or perhaps two tops," said Andromda. "So, really, just Cissy and I need to go."

"I do need to return to work," commented Amelia.

"Who takes care of Susan when you're at the Ministry?" asked Selene.

"The elves, plus the Abbotts live nearby, and they've always been close with the House of Bones," explained Amelia.

"I'll stay and watch over them," volunteered Ted. "I mean, I know Susan hasn't had a strong male in her life, and I'm likely to be Harry's as well, so I might as well get used to it. I've already taken the day off from the practice."

"We can stay as well," offered Selene. "Xeno's got until the first to get the Quibbler out anyway, so he's got time."

"Well, since we're practically family anyway," said Amelia cautiously.

"Would an oath suffice?" asked Ted.

-=aPBR=-

Two hours later, the two youngest Black sisters were comparing notes in the lobby of Gringotts.

"Bones, as expected," said Narcissa, looking over her notes on a piece of parchment. "Greengrass and Davis as well here in Britain, and interestingly enough, a Delacour from France. Also, Potter."

Andromeda looked over her list, written on one of the papes of the paper notebook she always carried with her, "Yeah, I have a Black as well. Granger, though apparently it was dormant for a while in a squib line but was reactivated in '79, Patil, and quite interestingly, one between the Weasleys and the Potter, set up after Lily and James' deaths by none other than Albus Dumbledore under his authority as Chief Warlock."

"He can do that?" asked Narcissa.

"Seems it was a rider amendment on one of the bills shortly after the end of the war. And the contract itself is interesting, since it allows the Weasleys to pay for their children to go to Hogwarts," explained Andromeda.

"I've always wondered how Author was planning on paying for that brood of his to attend. I'd always assumed it was under one or more of the various scholarship programs, but I guess extorting the House of Potter worked just as well," spat out Narcissa.

"We don't know it's extortion," said Andromeda. "I know that the Potters worked closely with Albus during the War, as did the Weasleys and the Prewetts."

"Well, let's get back to the Ossuary and get in touch with our Lord's future in-laws, shall we?" asked Narcissa.

-=aPBR=-


	11. Chapter 11

I do not own the characters, locations, nor situations described herein, those remain the sole property of J.K. Rowling.

**Author's Note:** We'll get back to the Regents and the Contracts in a bit, but I thought, much like with the Amelia chapter, that we'd get a glimpse into how Albus is handling the events of the past day. Also, the poll is still open as to what I'm going to do with the Weasley contract, so vote on it via my profile page if you'd like to make your (non-binding) opinion known.

Chapter 11

-=aPBR=-

His eyes snapped open, the last thing he remembered was the heat of the fire, and he almost cried out in pain from the memory, but he was better than that, so he didn't. Instead, he looked around, taking stock of his surroundings. It had been a few years since he'd woken up on one of the Hospital Wings' beds, not since the War had ended. With that he remembered why he had been burning, as the fires of the phoenix burned for the first time.

"What did I do wrong?" he asked himself aloud. He was surprised at how gravely his voice sounded, how damaged it was.

"I would like to know the same," came the stern demand of Hogwarts' resident healer. "You came in here yesterday all aflame, had to cast a fair few watering charms to get you out. Luckily you were already unconscious or you'd be alongside the Longbottoms with delirium."

"How long?" asked Albus, trying to salvage his voice.

Pomfrey summoned a tray of potions from across the room with a wave of her wand, then handed one to Albus, "Drink this one for your throat. Then we'll talk about what you did to yourself. I swear, you were worse than even the darkest times of the War."

Albus dutifully took the potion, the thick liquid coating his throat and then running down into his lungs rather than his stomach, a unique and disconcerting feeling, but not one he was unfamiliar with. "Thank you," he said, the potion having done it's work. "As I was saying, how long have I been here?"

"It's one in the afternoon now, so not quite twenty hours," replied Poppy, retrieving another potion. "Here, take this one."

"For?" asked Albus. When the nurse replied with a glare he relented and swallowed. "I had hoped I'd be able to get on top of things earlier."

"What happened to you Albus?" asked Pomfrey, as she readied another potion.

"I got on the wrong side of my own wards," replied Albus before quaffing the potion. Already the pain and stiffness from his injuries was fading.

"Where?" Another questions, another potion.

"Outside of London. It seems that I may have overreacted to something. Fawkes has never burned me before," replied Albus.

"This was from Fawkes?" asked Pomfrey, shocked that the Headmaster's phoenix would do such a thing.

"I believe I may have stepped over a line, though when and where is a key question, one which I must get answers to before I can proceed," answered Albus. He then looked at the tray of potions, and still half remained. "How about I finish those off, and then I'll make my way back to my office?"

"Albus, if something happened, you know you can talk to me, right?" asked the nurse, as she began to hand him more potions.

Albus waited until the rest of the potions were finished, then took a drink of water from the glass on the table beside, clearing his mouth of the various conflicting tastes and textures. "I know, Poppy, but before I can do that, I need to understand what happened myself."

Albus then swept off the blanket and stood up out of the bed. Poppy had to stifle a giggle as she realized that the Headmaster was dressed only in the patient's robe she'd provided, since the rest of his outfit had ben burned away.

Just before Albus got to the door to the Hospital Wing, Pomfrey spoke up, "Albus, perhaps you should get more fully dressed?"

The Headmaster looked himself over, then looked back, realizing that he'd forgotten even his wand, and reached out towards the bed. The Elder Wand rattled in a drawer, then flew across the ward and into his outstretched palm. As his hand grasped around it, his thin, gauzy, and most importantly, tied at the back, patient's robe, was transfigured into a bright blue robe decorated with fluffy clouds. They weren't animated, but as it was just needed until he could return to his office, and his wardrobe, it would suffice.

"Thank you Poppy," said Albus with a nod of his head, "For everything." And with that, Albus Dumbledore walked out of the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts.

-=aPBR=-

"Ah, come in Severus," said Albus from behind his desk.

"I hope you had a good explanation for this," growled the twenty-five year old wizard. "It's hard enough getting my students to respect me because of my age, but to have an elf interrupt my class to have me come here."

"I apologize Severus," said Albus. The older man than gestured to a chair in front of his desk, "Things have come to a head recently, and I am in need of information that you are uniquely suited to provide."

Severus Snape, the Half-Blood Prince, raised his left eyebrow, "Indeed?" He then took the seat the Headmaster offered, "So, what, pray tell, am I so uniquely suited to provide for you? You haven't, by chance, called he here to offer me the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

"Severus, you know that I can't let you take that position," said Albus. "You've been here long enough to know that no professor lasts longer than a year, and you are too valuable to risk that."

"You keep saying that," said Severus calmly. "So, if not that, then what?"

"What can you tell me about the Evans family?"

Severus blinked, the surprise of the question stopping his normal snark, "What?"

"The parents of Lily and Petunia Evans, what can you tell me about them?"

"They were normal muggles," began Severus. "Henry, though he was usually called Harry, for which Lily got the name of her son, and Olivia Evans, parents of Lily and Petunia Evans."

"So, her name was Olivia?" asked Albus.

"Yes," said Severus, "I remember my mother talking with her many times."

"Do you know her maiden name?"

"What possible use can that information have?" asked Severus, agitated.

"It's quite important, my dear boy," said Albus, stroking his beard, which luckily he'd been able to regrow with potion he'd kept around for emergencies. "Do you know Olivia Evans' maiden name?"

"It was flowery, I know that much, but no, Albus, I do not know it," said Severus with a sigh. "What is this about?"

"Something has happened which has drastically changed my plans for the future," said Albus.

"How could knowing…" began Severus. He then paused, "It this about Potter's sprog?"

"Severus, you must get over that obsession you have with James Potter. The man is dead, in no small part to your own doing I might add. Let the dead rest, you have no quarrel with the boy."

"Don't remind me about Potter's death and my own part in it," growled Severus. "I feel that pain every day."

"But yes, it is about young Harry," said Albus with a sigh.

"What happened?" asked Severus. "Is that why you weren't at supper or breakfast?"

"In part," said Albus. "As I was saying, the Evans family. What about Henry, young Harry's namesake?"

"He was a pilot, as mad about flying as his son-in-law," spat Severus. "He flew for BOAC before the Dark Lord had him killed during the War."

"Bo-ack?" asked Albus.

"An airline, a muggle company that flies large planes through the air, transporting muggles around the world," explained Severus. "The company merged with another to form British Airways while I was as school. I'm not sure if Lily's father was still flying with them after that, but it's likely. At least, until the Dark Lord killed him shortly after Lily and Potter refused his offer."

"So, Henry and Olivia, do you know how they met?" asked Albus.

Severus shook his head, "No, it never came up. If my mother was still alive, she'd likely know. She and Olivia were good friends, which is surprising, as even though she once loved Tobias, she had no great love for muggles."

"So, is it possible she knew about the wizarding world?" asked Albus.

"It's possible, but then she'd be a squib, or perhaps the daughter of one," said Severus. "She definitely wasn't a witch, for she knew far too much about the muggle world for one who had left it for seven years during their adolescence."

Albus steepled his fingers, "Perhaps she was right, then?"

"Who?" asked Severus.

"Narcissa Malfoy," said Albus, "or perhaps it was Andromeda Tonks."

"Narcissa is no longer a Malfoy," said Severus. "When her cousin died, he annulled their marriage in his will, the last act of the last Lord Black."

"What?" asked Albus. "Sirius Black is dead?"

"He died earlier in the month," said Severus cautiously. "I had expected you to know when the worst traitor of your previous order had died."

"But, that can't be," said Albus, as much to Severus as to himself.

"What can't be?" asked Severus.

"If Black annulled the marriage, then he might not have been a traitor, for he would have been allied with Lord Malfoy," explained Albus.

"Lucius always said that if Black was working for the Dark Lord, it was higher even than him," said Severus. "Though, as he was under the Ming Control Curse, that's hardly surprising," he quickly hedged. It was less than four years since the end of the War, and although Lucius Malfoy and Severus had both escaped being sent to Azkaban, the formalities would still need to be made for a few years yet.

"Of course," said Albus, knowing that it was for the Greater Good for Lucius to be able to be reformed, rather than kept in Azkaban. Who else would raise the next Lord Malfoy within the Light if not for a reformed Lucius? "But, if the Black Sisters are working together, then perhaps Sirius was not the last Lord Black?"

"Potter?" asked Severus.

"James' mother was Dorea Black before her marriage," admitted Albus. "And although Narcissa had been married to Lucius, it is an open secret that Draco was not her son, which means that the Lordship must fall from further up the tree."

"So, not only is Potter's sprog Lord Potter, but he's also Lord Black? How big of a head will that boy have when he comes here?" asked Severus.

"If he comes here," corrected Albus.

"What do you mean?"

"I think I made a grave error yesterday, why I was not available for supper and breakfast, and why I asked about Olivia Rosier," explained Albus.

Severus snapped his fingers, "Rosier, yes, that was her maiden name. Now why does that sound familiar?"

"Evan Rosier was a Death Eater, Lord Julius Rosier, younger brother of Lord Marcus Rosier, died a few days ago," explained Albus.

"Surely it's a coincidence," offered Severus.

"The magical protections enacted by Lily transferred to Petunia because she was a blood relative. I had thought, as I believe Lily herself thought, that Petunia was Lily's sister. It is me belief that instead Petunia was Lily's niece, and Lily herself was the younger daughter of the late Lord Marcus Rosier, who had a squib daughter, Olivia Rosier, in addition to his eldest Durella, mother to the aforementioned Narcissa and Andromeda Black."

Severus slumped into his seat, "He's a triple Lord?"

"It would seem so," said Albus. "And my plans for the boy have now be scuppered."

"But, surely even as a triple Lord he can only do so much," countered Severus.

"He's under the guardianship of Narcissa Black. If I don't do something, he'll be raised to know exactly how powerful he can be. Voldemort only achieved what he did because he had no true power in our world. Raised by Narcissa, a true believer in Blood Supremacy, and we may have traded one Dark Lord for another, one made more powerful for the politics of our world, in addition to the magic that Voldemort marked him with during his fall."

"That bad?" asked Severus.

"Severus, it may even be worse. Hopefully, we can work with this to our advantage. I need to you find a first year, a Nymphadora Tonks, Hufflepuff I believe."

"Ah, the metamorphamagus?" asked Severus.

"That same, it seems that we might need her to properly leverage the situation with her mother, aunt, and cousin," explained Albus.

-=aPBR=-


	12. Chapter 12

I do not own the characters, locations, nor situations described herein, those remain the sole property of J.K. Rowling.

Author's Note: sorry about the lateness, I needed to figure out how to get everything together. If you'll notice, this is longer than some of the previous chapters.

Chapter 12

-=aPBR=-

Narcissa and Andromeda returned to the Ossuary and were greeted by Amelia, "So, what's the good news?"

"Good news for our plan with Albus, or good news in general?" asked Narcissa.

Andromeda rolled her yes, "Are you familiar with the Wizengamot's ability to enact contracts via legislation?"

Amelia looked confused, "How does that have anything to do with our plan?"

"The Chief Warlock, in the confusion after the end of the War, pushed through a piece of questionable legislation."

"How questionable?" asked Amelia.

"The Most Noble and Ancient House of Potter is paying for the education of the children of Arthur and Molly Weasley," explained Andromeda.

Amelia nodded slowly, "Okay, I know Arthur, not well, but we've worked together on a couple of cases involving muggle artifacts."

"He has seven children, the eldest of whom entered Hogwarts the year after the War ended, and the youngest of whom, a girl, Ginevra, was born not four years ago," spat out Narcissa. "While I doubt it will even scratch the annual return of the Potter finances, especially since there will never be more than five at Hogwarts at a time, it's the principle of the thing."

"Plus, since the Weasleys and the Potters have been allies in the past, and if I recall correctly both couples were involved with Albus' little vigilante group, I assume it also included the standard marriage clause?" asked Amelia.

"You late fiancé was also a member of that group, if I recall correctly," teased Narcissa.

"Yes, there's a marriage clause to the contract," confirmed Andromeda.

"So, was this illegal?" asked Amelia. "I'm not sure, but I figure between the lawyer and the history buff, you can be sure."

"Unfortunately, there's precedence," said Andromeda with a sigh. "It's rare, only a few cases over the last thousand years, but it's happened before."

"It was almost always between minor houses, like the Weasleys, and major houses, like the Potters, and usually after a Dark Lord had fallen. Unfortunately, it's never happened with a Triple Lordship before, at least not since the House Renewal Decree of 1246 created the polygamy exception and the contract execution provision law," explained Narcissa. "It was frowned upon to create such contracts by legislation to even Double Lords."

"But, since Harry wasn't even that when the law, and the contract, when into effect, it wasn't caught by the Wizengamot," finished Amelia. "Heck, it wasn't even known that Lily was a pureblood, and so at most Harry would be a Double Lord from his Black grandmother."

"Exactly," said Andromeda.

"So, what's the plan now?" asked Amelia.

"We need to make sure that nothing happens to Nymphadora, especially since there's a contract between the Blacks and Potters."

Amelia looked confused, "Okay, two things. First, how did that happen? And second, how does that work, since Harry's both Lord Black and Lord Potter?"

"Well, the second one's easy, legally, Lord Black is a separate personage than Lord Potter, as is Lord Rosier. Unless Harry decides to join the houses, in which case he'd no longer by a Triple Lord, and he'd not have to worry about it," explained Andromeda. "The first is that, after Dorea married Charlus, My Lord's grandparents, to assuage the ire of her parents, the Potters sold part of their publishing company to the Blacks."

Okay, go back to that first bit about my second question. Why not just have Harry join the Houses now and not have to worry about all of this?"

Both of the Black sister's sighed, then Narcissa said, "He can't do it until he's seventeen."

"And the problem?"

"Even Susan's older than he is. Heck, even if you include Ginevra Weasley, he's only got two contracts, that we know of, with families where the eldest unmarried daughter is younger than he is, the other being the Malfoys through the Lovegoods."

Amelia cradled her face in her palm, "And the contracts are enforced on the seventeenth birthday of the eldest participant."

"In most cases, yes, though your Line Continuation Clause gets around that," explained Andromeda.

"And, since he'll already be married more than once when he turns seventeen, he'll not be able to join his houses because then he'd be in multiple illegal marriages," explained Amelia with a sigh. "So, we need to blackmail Albus to do what? Release Nymphadora from his control and Bella, loathe I am to ask this, from Azkaban?"

"I'd like to cancel the contract with the Weasleys while I'm at it," said Narcissa.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," countered Andromeda.

"Why?" asked Amelia.

"I'd rather turn them into allies," explained Andromeda. "The Weasleys have traditionally been friendly with Dumbledore, and their two oldest, as you said, are currently at Hogwarts, which means we can try to get them to protect Dora while she's there. Their younger children will be following, providing a stable cadre of allies, ones that can be counted on to protect Harry and his betrotheds while at Hogwarts."

"That seems reasonable," said Amelia.

"But they're Weasleys," countered Narcissa irrationally.

"I don't like what Albus did, and if they were complicit, then it will be different, but right now the House of Potter needs allies, as Regent Potter that's one of my mandates. "Already the contract has beholden the Weasleys to the Potters, I just intend to make that stronger, to tie the Ancient House of Weasley to the Most Noble and Ancient House of Potter."

"I still don't like it," said Narcissa.

"Cissy, you worry about the House of Black, I'll worry about the House of Potter," Andromeda said, trying to calm her sister.

-=aPBR=-

"How do we confront Albus?" asked Selene as the three Regents, the Lovegoods, Ted Tonks, and the three children sat around he bone inlaid ebony table for luncheon.

"Whatever we do, it needs to be done quickly," states Amelia, taking a sip of wine. "As soon as word gets out that the explosion in Surrey was linked to the Boy-Who-Lived, I'll be forced to hasten my investigation. If we can blackmail Albus quickly, then the Wizengamot can keep their hands off the DMLE. If we're lucky, then we can get a vote of no confidence after we force Albus' hand regarding Lestrange."

"I'm still not sure that releasing Bellatrix is the best idea," cautioned Ted.

"The best may not be an option," said Andromeda. "I love my sister, but even I know, towards the end of the war, she went off the deep end."

"Deep end of what?" asked Harry.

"It's a saying," explained Andromeda. "It means that she's lost her sense of right and wrong, that she's lost her sense of reason, and that, in the analogy, it seems that to her the good idea would be to go off into the deep end of the swimming pool, even if she didn't know how to swim."

Narcissa looked like she was going to add something, but when Harry didn't ask any more, she just said, "Close enough."

"Do we contract the other Noble Houses linked with Potter and Black?" asked Ted.

"I'm interested in the Grangers, as it was thought it was an abeyance, but it's still technically a Noble House," said Narcissa. "Also, this Hermione Granger seems to be nearly six years old, it might be a good time to contact her parents before they too spooked with accidental magic."

"I think they'll be spooked enough to discover that their daughter is going to be forced into a marriage with a boy they've never met," added Ted.

"True, plus it would mean more votes in the Wizengamot we can influence or control, giving us more leverage," said Narcissa.

"So, what's our overall plan?" asked Amelia.

"Overall?" asked Andromeda, looking to her husband and then her sister.

"We think that Tom Riddle, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, is, although having been killed, not strictly dead. He may come back to get Harry," explained Narcissa.

"We need to secure the Black, Potter, and Rosier Houses, and with them, their associated Houses, such as Malfoy and Lovegood," said Andromeda, gesturing to Selene and Xeno, with a nod to Luna, just over a month younger than Harry, her Lord. she then gestured to Amelia, "And Bones of course, as well as the others we've yet to contact, such as the Patils, Delacours, Grangers, Greengrasses, and Davises."

"We need to protect Harry and his future Wives from the influences and predations of those that would wish them harm," added Narcissa.

"So, not much then?" asked Ted with a chuckle.

-=aPBR=-

Over the next few hours the Regents got in contract with the magical familes their Houses were now associated with. In doing so, they learned a few things about the Third House, the House of Rosier.

"So, the Patils, Greengrasses, and Delacours, all three with two girls each, have active contracts with House Rosier," said Ted with a sigh. "Merlin, this boy is going to be the most hated boy at Hogwarts."

Andromeda looked confused, "Why?"

"Nearly half the girls his age set for Hogwarts, and two more that might have gone to Beaubatons instead, the Dealcour sisters, are instead going to be at Hogwarts as well. Harry's going to be hated by his fellow boys at Hogwarts because he's removed so many of the otherwise available girls, which means that they'll have to fight over the now smaller group of girls, and less politically connected ones at that," explained Ted.

"I guess we'll have to make sure he's ready for that," said Andromeda.

Just then Amelia came into the room, her shoulders slightly sooty, a sign that she'd just come from a long floo call.

"So, what's the news?" asked Ted.

"We've got a meeting tomorrow at Gringotts, secure and neutral, if expensive," said Amelia, dropping into a chair at the table.

"And they'll keep it secret?" asked Ted.

"They promised, but considering Seigneur Delacour's position within the French government, it'll be known that he's in the country, and a few sickles will get that information," explained Amelia.

"How exactly does nobility work in France?" asked Ted.

"I assume you refer to the fact that France is a Republic?" asked Andromeda.

"Yeah," said Ted.

"While there won't be any new nobles in France, and thus no new Houses as we think of them within Magical Britain, they were allowed to keep their titles, so while Seigneur Delacour is a Duc, it's my understanding that it's mainly just a title and doesn't hold the same rights and responsibilities as it would here in Britain," explained Andromeda. "But, Mother, daughter of a Lafleur, had a greater interest in French politics than Father ever approved of, so I might be wrong."

-=aPBR=-

"Thank you all for coming," said Andromeda as she looked over the twelve people seated around the Gringotts table. She'd have rather had this meeting at the Ossuary, or even Rowan Hill, but with so many families involved, as well as the issue of the Weasley contract, it was safer to have it on the neutral soil of the Goblin Nation. To her left was her sister, Narcissa, and next to her Amelia. To Andromeda's right was Selene and Xeno Lovegood. Seigneur Jean and Dame Apolline Delacour were seated next to Amelia, while next to the Veela was Lady Melanie Greengrass, recently widowed after her husband Edward succumbed to a bad case of Dragon Pox. Next to Xeno was Arthur Weasley, his wife Molly staying home to watch their seven children, while next to Arthur was Lord Sigmund and Lady Elizabeth Davis. The final pair, sitting between the Davises and Lady Greengrass, were Janistha and Padmavati Patil. "I know this meeting was on short notice, but recent events have forces us to move quickly."

"I'm not sure how quickly we need to move," said Lady Greengrass. "As I understand it, even the eldest future wife of Lord Potter is only just finishing her first year at Hogwarts, and has another five years before she has to marry him."

"While that is true," said Andromeda, "There is more to this meeting than just discussing the matters of your daughters' marriages to My Lord."

"Two days ago," said Narcissa, taking her sister's prompting, "following the death and execution of the will of the late Lord Sirius Black, my sister and I, following the annulment of my marriage to Lord Malfoy, went to the muggle residence of one Petunia Dursley, caretaker of my Lord."

Lady Greengrass held up her hand, "Just a question, I assume by your speech that you're Lord Potter's Regent."

"I am Lord Black's Regent," clarified Narcissa, "My sister is Regent Potter."

"And Regent Rosier?" asked Lady Greengrass. She looked to Amelia and then the Lovegoods.

Andromeda shook her head, "For the time being, there is no Regent Rosier, though the only possible candidate is one of our subjects of discussion."

"Please, continue," said Lady Greengrass.

"Thank you," said Narcissa. "As I was saying, my sister and I, two days ago, Thursday afternoon, visited the home of Petunia Dursley, the caretaker of Lord Black. We discovered that he was being abused, and since she did not wish to take care of My Lord any longer, we, or more specifically I, offered to take custody of him."

"That is when the complications began," said Andromeda. "Before we could complete the process of transferring custody from our cousin, Petunia Dursley, the home was invaded by the Chief Warlock, and current Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore." That elicited a gasp from everyone at the table. "He insisted that Our Lord remain at his current abode, even when we explained that he was not wanted there and that his claimed protection granted by the blood of Our Lord's mother, our Aunt, Lilian Potter, would work just as well with one of the two of us. He took umbrage, and just as my sister convinced Petunia to give up custody, he cast a spell to attack us."

"Wait, 'Lilian'? I thought her name was Lily?" asked Arthur. "At least, that is what she told me when she introduced herself."

"We do not believe that she was made aware of her true heritage by her adoptive mother, and true sister, Olivia Evans née Rosier, the squib younger sibling of our," and Andromeda gestured to herself and Narcissa, "mother, Druella Black née Rosier."

"Oh," said Arthur, unprepared for the revelation.

"What does this have to do with us?" asked Seigneur Delacour. "While I understand that Monsieur Dumbledore is a powerful man, holding not just the position of Chief Warlock and Headmaster, as you pointed out, but also that of Chief Mugawump of the International Confederation of Warlocks, if there is evidence, then I am sure that he can be convicted, _non_?"

"It is my belief," spoke up Amelia, "as the Auror in charge of the investigation of the explosion, a happenstance I assure you, that Albus Dumbledore, due to his high status within Britian, as well as his influence within the Wizengamot, which is not only our Legislature, but also out Court, would be able to be acquired of any and all charges brought upon him. He also has a personal interest if young Harry, having gone beyond the wishes of Harry's parents, and placed him with, what was at the time believed to be his aunt, Petunia Dursley née Evans."

"You know that this was beyond his parents' wishes?" asked Seigneur Delacour.

"Arthur, you knew the Potters, no?" asked Amelia.

"I did," said Arthur.

"What, if anything, did Lily tell you about her 'sister'?" asked Amelia.

"She didn't talk about her, but I knew that they were estranged from comments both she and James made," said Arthur.

"Exactly," said Amelia. "While I wasn't friendly with the Potters, having focused on Auror training during the War rather than go Vigilante following Albus, no offense Arthur, my fiancé was."

"Fiancé?" asked Lord Davis. "I was not aware that you were engaged, congratulations."

"I was engaged, before his death two weeks ago," said Amelia. "The late Lord Sirius Black." This elicited another round of gasps.

"He never mentioned," said Arthur softly.

"I do know, though, that Sirius was supposed to gain custody of Harry if his parents were to have died, it was something that we spoke about before the Potters went into hiding."

"I thought that Black betrayed them," offered Arthur.

"It is not my belief that he did," said Amelia.

"But he was in Azkaban," countered Lord Davis. "Surely he came up during his trial."

"That would assume he had a trial," countered Amelia. "I have never been able to come across any records of a trial for my Sirius. He was captured by Aurors two days after the deaths of Lily and James, having apparently killed one of his best friends, Peter Petigrew, and over a dozen muggles. While it would not surprise me if, in his rashness, he attacked Peter, and killed those muggles accidentally, he would have needed a reason. Both of them were members of Albus' vigilante group during the War, the Order of the Phoenix."

"True, Sirius, James, Peter, and their friend Remus Lupin were all members, as were Lily, myself, and my wife," said Arthur.

"Why were you a member?" asked Amelia. "Sirius and his friends I understand, and Lily with James, but you work in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Division."

"While I admit that I am not a fighter, not like Molly's brothers, who were members before their deaths, I joined because Albus believed, and rightly so, that the Death Eaters were attacking muggles just as much as they were attacking muggleborn. It was a way to get at those that escaped prosecution for their crimes in another fashion. Narcissa, surely you remember the fines your former husband…"

"The marriage was annulled, I was never married to that man," Narcissa said, interrupting Arthur.

"I apologize, but as I was saying, while he was able to get acquitted of the charges against him as a Death Eater, the infamous 'Imperius Defense', I, or rather the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Division, was able to get him seriously fined for various cursed items discovered in his home. It is the source of the animosity between Lucius and myself. I got him when his money had served him so well previously. While they weren't criminal charges, they cost him financially. It was the same across the board, many of the Death Eaters were fined for cursed muggle artifacts when they were able to get acquitted from their crimes during the War."

Seigneur Delacour scoffed, "War, you keep calling your little _guerre civile_ a War. You petty Englishmen were untouched by Grindlewald's march across Europe, even though it was your country that raised him. While I admit that Monsieur Dumbledore ended Girndlewald's tyranny, I would not call your little squabble a 'War'."

"You and I will have to disagree, Seigneur Delacour," said Amelia harshly. "I lost my family during that so-called 'squabble', and the only reason we're here today is the aftereffects of that 'squabble', the deaths of the Potters, as well as the inability for both the Black and Rosier lines to reproduce."

"While this was a nice digression, why don't we return to the topic at hand," said Andromeda. "Due to Albus' political connections, he's untouchable through the courts. It also means that we can use him to get what we want."

"And what is it, exactly, that 'we' want?" asked Janistha Patil, speaking for the first time since introducing himself before the meeting began.

"The safety of our daughters and Lord Potter," said Andromeda. "My daughter, the aforementioned First Year at Hogwarts, is just that, at Hogwarts. The Headmaster has shown that he's willing to use lethal force to get what he wants. He's also shown that he's willing to send possibly innocent men to Azkaban without a trial to secure his control. Two days ago he lost control of the 'Boy-Who-Lived', after personally taking an interest in where My Lord was to be raised, away from the Wizarding World and his heritage, in a home that never wanted him."

Just then, in a suitably dramatic manner, there was a knock at the door to the room. Andromeda raised an eyebrow, but walked around the table to answer it, silence filling the room.

At the door was a well dressed Goblin, "A late arrival for your meeting, Regent Potter." While Goblins were inherently civil, with sufficient gold they could at least keep a civil tongue in their mouths, and the Potter and Black families were paying sufficient gold.

"What? But everyone invited is already here," countered Andromeda. "Who is it?"

"A Miss Tonks and Professor Dumbledore," explained the goblin.


	13. Chapter 13

I do not own the characters, locations, nor situations described herein, those remain the sole property of J.K. Rowling.

**Author's Note:** Sorry about the wait, the muse is fleeting.

Chapter 13

-=aPBR=-

The room was silent.

"Shall I let them in?" asked the Goblin.

"Yes," said Andromeda flatly.

"Do you think this wise, Andi?" asked Narcissa after the Goblin closed the door.

"He has my daughter with him, and he already knows about the meeting. We were planning on meeting with him eventually to discuss the repercussions from the… altercation earlier, as well as the outcome of our new positions as Regents," she replied to her sister's question.

"But do you think it is wise?" asked Janistha Patil.

"It is done, so ti does not matter if I think it wise or not," replied Andromeda curtly.

The door opened once more, and in strode Albus Dumbledore followed by a nervous looking twelve-year old girl, her hair slowly fluctuating between different colors as her anxiety showed.

"Mum!" shouted the girl as she caught sight of her mother, the first she'd seen her since returning to Hogwarts shortly after the beginning of the year. She then ran across the room, and around the table, until she embraced her mother.

"My little Nymphadora," said Andromeda, kneeling down and embracing her daughter.

"Mum!" whinged the girl, "You know I don't like that name."

"And why shouldn't I call you by your name?" asked Andromeda, standing up and giving her daughter a contemplative but serious look.

"Because people make fun of it," complained Nymphadora. "Just call me Tonks."

Andromeda chuckled, "How about we compromise to Dora?"

"I guess," she said with the sigh.

"Now, why don't you have a seat, as I'm sure your Headmaster has much to talk about?" asked Andromeda, as she conjured a basic chair for her daughter with a wave of her wand. She then sat down, and looked across the table at Albus, who doing the reunion had conjured a chair of his own, larger and more ornate than another of the other chairs in the room, and reminiscent of the throne-like chair he sat upon behind the Staff Table in the Great Hall of Hogwarts. "Now, Headmaster Dumbledore, it seems we have much to talk about."

Albus looked around the table, at the various families represented. He knew all of them, at least socially, and he'd worked closely with both Jean Delacour and Arthur Weasley in the past, the former at the ICW, and the latter with the Order of the Phoenix during the war with Voldemort. "Yes, it seems you have quite the gathering here, though I'd wonder as to the reasoning behind the membership of this cabal."

"I'd not go so far as to call it a cabal Albus," said Amelia, who as Senior Auror had experience dealing with the Chief Warlock on various occasions, and so was comfortable with her informality.

"Then what would you call it?" asked Albus.

"A family meeting," answered Andromeda.

"A family meeting? I was not aware that there was a relationship within more than half a dozen generations between the Blacks and the Greengrasses, let alone anything more than a business relationship with the Patils," countered Albus.

"Perhaps a future family meeting would be a more appropriate name," clarified Narcissa. "And we have you to thank for it, as well as for at least one of our members." She then gestured to Arthur.

Albus looked confused for a moment, then his eyes widened. He looked from Narcissa to Andromeda, "Which of you is Regent Potter?"

Andromeda showed Albus the ring upon her hand, "That would be me, my sister, Narcissa here, is Regent Black."

"Black and Potter, quite interesting," said Albus. "I would have thought that Sirius would have made your nephew his heir instead, considering his betrayal of the Potters."

"That would assume he betrayed them," growled Amelia.

"Amelia, now is not the time for that," cautioned Andromeda.

"I take it that the relationship you and Sirius began in your Seventh Year continued beyond?" asked Albus. He then shook his head, "No matter, so young Harry is both the Black and the Potter, but if I remember my laws, and as Chief Warlock I would hope I do, even then he'd only be allowed a single wife, so I don't see how these fine folks could be future family."

"You remember the late Lord Julius Rosier, do you not?" asked Andromeda.

"Your great uncle if I recall correctly, he inherited after your grandfather died, and died without an heir earlier this week, since his only son was killed before his master was," replied Albus. "But how does this relate to Harry? If anything, it would be your nephew who would inherit as Lord Rosier."

"That is the second time you mentioned a nephew, unless Bella gave birth in that hell hole Azkaban, I'm not sure who you'd be referring to," replied Andromeda with a smile.

Albus looked confused, knowing that he didn't know something that Andromeda did. He thought for a moment, "So Young Draco?"

"He's no son of mine," replied Narcissa. "I wasn't close enough in the family tree your Lucius."

Selene chuckled, "I'm not close enough in the family tree for my cousin."

"So Draco's mother?" asked Albus.

"Would also be his aunt, Delphine Malfoy," replied Narcissa. "You had to wonder why she dropped out of Hogwarts halfway through her third year."

Albus shuddered, remembering the incest he'd discovered within another so-called "pureblood" magical family. "And with his mother, Harry's mother that is, being your aunt, although younger, that would make him the sole male relative of the late Lord Rosier."

"Exactly, and so, we have Lord Potter, Lord Black, and Lord Rosier all in the same personage, that of my Lord," clarified Narcissa.

"Which, would be why you are all here, though I suspect that this is not the extent of your new extended family," replied Albus.

"While we know of some of the Rosier contracts, since they are with the same families as Black or Potter contracts, without access to the Rosier vaults, we cannot be sure until they come into force," explained Andromeda. "We, that is Cissy and I, had come up with a plan and how to remedy that, though now, I doubt that plan will come to fruition."

"Bellatrix?" asked Albus. He nodded with a chuckle, "Yes, the chances of that are slim."

-=aPBR=-

Albus looked across the table at his former, and in the form of young Nymphadora current, students (excepting the small French contingent) and current opponents, "So, I assume that you planned to blackmail me into releasing your sister in exchange to keeping my rather rash outburst out of both the Prophet and the further interests of Senior Auror Bones' associates?"

"Would it have worked?" asked Narcissa.

"Likely not," admitted Albus. "I've weathered worse storms."

"I suppose once Dora is old enough, and she's married Harry, she'll just have to act as Lady Rosier," said Andromeda. "It's not what I'd have preferred for my daughter, but if that's our only option …"

"So your daughter will be transferring to Beaubatons for her further education, then?" asked Jean.

"It's likely that we'll just move the entire family there as soon as possible," said Andromeda. "While I know that Dora will have difficulties with the language barriers, it's the safest place for her, and the rest of our family. I know that the Potters and Blacks have property in France," she said, looking towards first the Lovegood, Weasley, and Davis, side of the table, and then the Bones, Delacour, Greengrass, Patil side of the table, "and while ti might be difficult, we do have time for your children to adjust to both he country and the language in time for their attendance at Beaubatons."

"Beaubatons?" asked Albus with interest.

"Yes, since we can't trust you, and thus the government that you lead as Chief Warlock, Seigneur Delacour's written suggestion of moving the future Black-Potter-Rosier family to France is for the best. Obviously it will be difficult, and not without its financial problems, but for the safety of our children, it's the only option we have left," explained Narcissa.

Albus swallowed hard. While he could weather the storm following his outburst at the former Dursley residence, losing the Boy-Who-Lived to France, not to mention nearly a quarter of his cohort from his betrothed and their families, including the Weasleys whom he himself linked to the young Triple Lord, would do far more, and lasting, harm to his image as the Leader of the Light. Add in the potential for Tom's return, and Albus could quite likely lose more than just standing if Harry and his new family left Britain.

"So," said Albus with a sigh, "You have more leverage than I expected."

"We are a product of our upbringing, Albus," said Andromeda with a smirk. "I may have married outside of the purebloods in Ted, but I'm still a Black at heart."

Albus looked first from Andromeda to Narcissa, and then to Amelia, and on, back and forth around the table. In each and every face he saw conviction, as well as not a small amount of hatred and disappointment, both directed at him. "Bellatrix," sighed Albus.

"She'd be released to her sisters' care to recover from her time in Azkaban and serve as Regent for her cousin. Her vote as Regent Rosier would be held by a proxy, as would most of her power over the Rosier estate. If you need to satiate your conscience, think of it as an opportunity to reform Bellatrix, as well as turn a Death Eater back to the light, much like your Potion's Master," explained Amelia.

"And all of Harry's betrotheds would attend Hogwarts?" asked Albus. He looked to the Delacours, "I assume that at least your eldest would be attending in a few years, no?"

Jean and Apolline looked to each other, and after sharing a few words in muted French, nodded first to Albus, and then to Andromeda and Narcissa, "_Oui_, our daughters will be attending Hogwarts with their betrothed."

"Then I'm sure we can work out a suitable proposal for the future Regent Rosier's release into the care of her family," said Albus. Instead of losing the Boy-Who-Lived to France, he secured his attendance to Hogwarts as well as a coup with both of Seigneur Delacour's daughters, as the Duc was a Department Head within the French Ministry.

-=aPBR=-

**Note:** Yeah, it's been a while, but I couldn't quite figure out how to write the second scene. And yes, it's shorter than it should be, but I figured that a few hundred words now was better than a few thousand in some indefinite future.


	14. Chapter 14

I do not own the characters, locations, nor situations described herein, those remain the sole property of J.K. Rowling.

**Author's Note:** Nearly done with the first part of this story. I'll likely advance in time quicker once the setup is all said and done.

Chapter 14

-=aPBR=-

Bellatrix Lestrange looked up from the floor of her cell, surprised at the commotion that was being raised outside of the stout wooden door. Add in the removal of the Dementors an hour before, and today was certainly turning into a day of days in the witch's opinion.

"Stand up," shouted the gruff voice from behind the door.

Bellatrix took her time to stand, a bit of rebellion.

"Quicker," demanded the voice.

"I'll take my own sweet time," replied Bellatrix in a lilting tone.

Once she was standing a wand tip was stuck through the bars of the small window in the door and a spell shot out. Knowing that it would be pointless to resist, but wanting to anyway, she twisted her body, mostly hidden by the loose prison robe she wore, and dodged the red stunner, "You'll have to do better than that."

"Bella, just hold still," came another voice, once that obviously wasn't one of the normal guards, for they never used her name when talking to her, just making demands.

It took a second or two, but Bellatrix finally recognized the voice, "Cissy?"

"Yes Bella, now, hold still so we can take care of this and get you out of here," said her youngest sister's voice.

"What's going on, did Lucy finally scrape up enough galleons to bribe the Minister to let me go too? Or did something happen after our dearly deluded cousin passed?" asked Bellatrix.

Unfortunately for the witch, she was distracted by her sister, and didn't noticed the wand sending out another stunner, and collapsed in a heap on the far end of the cell.

-=aPBR=-

Bellatrix was awakened from her unconsciousness, and with a startle, noticed that much had changed while under the stunner's effects. She'd been moved from her dark, dank, and dusty cell into a bright, dry, and clean room. Instead of standing with her back next to the far wall of her cell, she'd been placed in an only slightly uncomfortable chair, its cushioning charms having begun to fade. And instead of her loose and frankly disgusting prison robes, she'd been changed into a black skirt and a loose grey tunic.

Upon looking around she noticed that she'd not been restrained, and quickly stood, backing away from the table in the center of the room and into a corner, knowing that having two walls at her back limited where danger could come from.

The sole door in the room, located near the opposite corner, opened, and Bellatrix was surprised to see her youngest sister, Narcissa, step through. She was about to say something when to even more surprising people followed Narcissa.

The second into the room as Andromeda, the traitor that had married a mudblood and had been practically banished from the House by their aunt Walburga (though as she was not Lady Black, the "expulsion" had not had the force had Bellatrix's Grant Uncle Arcturus or even cousin Sirius, done the deed). Bellatrix couldn't decide whether to sneer at or ignore her sister, and was shocked from doing either by the final entrant into the room.

The young boy was perhaps five years old, with wild black hair, piercing green eyes, and a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead. Although she'd been captured only days after the Dark Lord's apparent defeat at the hands of the Potters, even she knew the legend of the Boy-Who-Lived.

"What are they doing here?" asked Bellatrix, pointing to Harry and Andromeda.

"It's complicated, but it's why you're no longer in your cell," replied Narcissa. She gestured to the chair that Bellatrix had vacated, "I think it best if you heard this sitting down."

"I'm fine here, thank you very much," replied Bellatrix, nearly spitting out the last words.

"As you wish," said Narcissa.

Bellatrix was surprised when the Boy-Who-Lived chuckled at what Narcissa had said. "What's so bloody funny?" she demanded.

"Harry here was likely reminded about a story my husband likes to read him, about true love and a dashing rogue who marries a princess," said Andromeda.

"Ah, a muggle story," spat Bellatrix.

"Perhaps, but a good story nevertheless," added Narcissa.

"What would Lucius say about your reading muggle stories? Or cavorting with blood traitors and half-bloods?" asked Bellatrix.

"I care not what that man," and Narcissa spat as she spoke, "thinks. And you would do well to keep a civil tongue in your head. If it wasn't for this so-called 'blood traitor' and 'half-blood', though neither is really true, you'd still be enjoying the visits of the Dementors in your old cell. Instead, you have a chance at freedom, at least, more freedom than you have here."

"And what does this freedom cost me?" asked Bellatrix.

"A pledge of loyalty to your family and Lord," replied Narcissa.

"I'd gladly swear loyalty to my Dark Lord, but if you're cavorting with the likes of them, I have no family left," replied Bellatrix, surprisingly defiant for a woman nearly cowering in a corner.

Narcissa rolled her eyes, "Perhaps it's best if I told you a story. It's a story about family, our family." She gestured to Bellatrix, Andromeda, and Harry. "And yes, Harry is part of our family."

"Explain," demanded Bellatrix.

"Our grandmother Rosa, unlike what we were raised to believe, had not one, but three daughters," said Narcissa. She waived her hand and three silhouettes of women appeared in the space above the table. "The middle daughter was our mother, Druella, born at St. Mungos nearly fifty years ago," said Narcissa, and the middle silhouette became an illusion of her mother, auburn haired and dressed in the typical dark colors of Black women.

"And the others?" asked Bellatrix, intrigued by the story her youngest sister was telling.

"Eldest was Olivia Rosier, born fifty years ago last month, a squib, banished from the family into the muggle world," explained Narcissa as the rightmost silhouette turned into an illusion of a woman with strawberry blonde hair and wearing a green muggle dress. "She married a muggle, a Henry Evans, though his friends called him Harry," and Narcissa paused to glance at the younger Harry in the room," and the couple had one daughter. Olivia and Henry were killed by Tom Riddle during the last war."

"As for the youngest sister, she was born an hour before our grandmother died, just enough time to be named Lillian. Due to the Dragonpox our parents were suffering through, instead of coming to live with us, she was sent to live with her squib sister, and was adopted and raised as Lily Evans," said Narcissa, and with that bit of information, the final silhouette changed to an illusion of a twenty-year old Lily Potter, her red, nearly auburn, hair pulled back into a bun and wearing muggle clothes under a dragonskin robe. Bellatrix had fought beside her Dark Lord on two of the occasions that Lily Potter had survived his wrath, and recognized the battle robes of the witch she'd previously thought a mudblood.

"So, the little mudblood whore was instead a blood-traitor, and her sprog is our cousin, so what?" asked Bellatrix.

"As the son of James Potter, he's heir to the Most Noble and Ancient House of Potter," explained Andromeda.

"As the designated heir of Sirius Black, and the grandson of Dorea Potter née Black, he's heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black as well," added Narcissa.

"And as the daughter of Lillian Rosier, or Lily Potter, he's heir to the Noble House of Rosier, now that the previous Lord Rosier is dead," added Andromeda.

"He's a Lord, again, why should I care?" asked Bellatrix.

"Currently you are incarcerated for a dozen life sentences here in Azkaban," explained Andromeda. "You've been here for three and a half years, and already I've seen what the Dementors have done to your body, and I'm sure you can tell what they've done to your mind. Another decade in here and you'd have likely been fully insane, and a decade or two more and you'ld have likely died in here. Instead, we offer you have choice. swear fealty to Harry and take up the position as Regent Rosier, and you'll be released into our care, or we can write your off and leave you here to rot." Andromeda then left Harry's side, walking around the table, "I'd rather have my sister back, than to think that you had a chance at redemption and lost it."

"Redemption?" asked Bellatrix, surprised and in a way, ashamed. "What did I do to deserve redemption?"

"You are my sister, that's all that you need," said Andromeda, carefully cupping her sister's cheek in her hand. "Come with us, let us be a family once more. Your old lord is dead and defeated, vanquished by your aunt Lily."

"Lily? Not the Boy-Who-Lived?" asked Bellatrix, surprised.

"According to the rights of conquest, Lily Potter née Rosier defeated Tom Marvolo Riddle, otherwise known as Lord Voldemort, as she died," explained Narcissa. "Which means that your Dark Lord, who was a half-blood, was defeated by a pureblood witch, and rightfully so."

"Half-blood?" asked Bellatrix, confused.

"Voldemort wasn't his real name, as I'm sure you're aware, but what you likely weren't told was he was an orphaned half-blood by the name of Tom Riddle when he attended Hogwarts. So, by serving him, you might instead by the blood-traitor," said Narcissa. "Though, when you realized that last war wasn't about purity of blood, but instead about power, titles like blood traitor lose their meaning."

"That's what you never understood," said Andromeda. "I don't just love my husband, but I realized that he's powerful. How long has it been since a metamorphamagus was born to the House of Black?"

"Ten generations," said Bellatrix. "Before your daughter that is."

"Exactly, we'd thought it had faded from our House, a power we were once known for, and now, one muggleborn wizard later, and there's another metamorphamagus. Muggleborn represent not weaker blood, but fresher blood, no longer tainted by generations of marrying cousins, fading power, and growing numbers of squibs."

"Power?" asked Bellatrix, looking from her sister to her cousin across the room, and back. She then nodded, "The Dark Lord … no, Riddle, he had a favorite saying, 'There is no good or evil, no light or dark, only power and those too weak to seize it.' I think I should seize it."

Andromeda smiled, "Then come, swear your fealty to your Lord, and then join us in freedom."

-=aPBR=-

"I, Bellatrix Artemis Lestrange, born of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, cousin of Lord Harry James Potter, born of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, the Most Noble and Ancient House of Potter, and the Noble House of Rosier, do solemnly swear on my life and magic to serve the interests of my Lord as his regent above all other Lords and Ladies, and to faithfully act in the best interests of the Noble House of Rosier as his Regent until he comes of age and relieves me of my duty." A stream of bright red magic arced from the tip of Bellatrix's newly returned walnut and dragon heartstring wand in her right hand, across the table to Harry's chest, and back to her own chest. With the expectant flash, the red magic wrapped itself around the fourth finger of her left hand, settling in a rose gold band with a diamond setting.

"Welcome Regent Rosier," said Andromeda, echoing the words that the Herald of the Magical College of Arms had said to both herself and Narcissa.

Bellatrix raised her left hand, gazing at the ring upon it. Had she still had the wedding band from her husband, it would have likely gone to her right hand. She was about to say something when her youngest sister gasped.

"It's gone," said Narcissa in surprise, pointing at Bellatrix's left arm.

"What's gone?" asked Bellatrix, looking down her forearm, and then realized that the Dark Mark was no longer there. She blinked in amazement, and twisted her arm back and forth, checking to see that it truly was gone.

"I guess this vow supersedes the one you made to Riddle," assumed Andromeda.

"It's gone," said Bellatrix softly. She then smiled, and sighed contently, "It's gone." She then, in a flash, was at her youngest sister's side, and embracing Narcissa. "It's gone!" she shouted joyously.

"She seems happy," said Harry, looking at Andromeda.

"It seems so, yes," Andromeda said, surprised.

Bellatrix released Narcissa, and then skipped around the table to embrace Andromeda, who after first being surprised, returned the gesture of love and affection.

Finally, Bellatrix released Andromeda, and then rushed around, grabbed Harry beneath his arms, lifted him up into the air, and with a matched scream of glee, spun around in joy.

"It's gone! Thank Merlin," said Bellatrix, returning Harry to the ground.

"I like her this way, she's much funner now," said Harry with a smile on his face.

"I'd just like to know why," said Narcissa.

"I'm free," explained Bellatrix. "He can't control me any more. No more painful summons, no more curses when I failed, or even when I didn't succeed as well as I demanded. No more calls to his chamber." She stopped, and for a split second her body returned to the fearful and broken slump she had when she'd hidden in the corner of her cell, and then in the corner of the room. But then the fear was gone, and the renewed Bellatrix was back once more.

-=aPBR=-

**Edit:** correct "hair above the table" to "space above the table", and "and fresher" to "but fresher". Also, added an ellipsis ("…") in Bella's description of Riddle's "Good and Evil" quote.


End file.
